Jobless rate back below 6 percent
The unemployment rate last month was 5.8 percent, down sharply from August’s 6.4 percent. Lubbock’s jobless rate plunged sharply in September on a combination of teachers coming back to school and private industry hiring in several economic sectors, according to state unemployment data released Friday morning.
Read more on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Initial Jobless Claims in U.S. Fell 23,000 Last Week to 452,000
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to a level that’s consistent with little improvement in the labor market.
Read more on Bloomberg

U.S. Jobless Claims Fell Last Week
Despite a drop of 23,000 last week, claims remain perched above levels usually associated with a strong job market recovery.
Read more on New York Times

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The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped to a 26-year high last week, according to government data on Thursday that pointed to a rapid deterioration in the economy. In addition, the number of people staying on the benefit rolls hit a record high in the week ended January 24, showing the weak labor market has yet to hit bottom.

The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 35,000 to a seasonally adjusted 626,000 in the week ended January 31, the highest since the week ending October 30, 1982.

- Reuters

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Stuttering Economy Seeks More Assistance?
(RTTNews) – The FOMC minutes released last week led to the strengthening of expectations that the Fed will soon announce another round of quantitative easing.
Read more on INO News

Initial Weekly Claims Rise 13,000
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increases by a more- than-expected 13,000 last week according to a labor department report.
Read more on TheStreet.com

La Mesa candidates Q&A – City Council
La Mesa city council candidates Q&A
Read more on San Diego Union-Tribune

PAUL KRUGMAN: Commentary
American officials used to lecture other countries about their economic failings and tell them that they needed to emulate the U.S. model. The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, in particular, led to a lot of self-satisfied moralizing.
Read more on The Indiana Gazette

Analysis: Jobs report is bleak news for Democrats
WASHINGTON — The economic die is cast, and it’s grim news for Democrats. There’s nothing now that Congress or President Barack Obama can do to before the November elections to jolt the nation’s listless recovery.
Read more on Asbury Park Press

Economy loses 95K jobs due to government layoffs
WASHINGTON — A wave of government layoffs in September outpaced weak hiring in the private sector, pushing down the nation’s payrolls by a net total of 95,000 jobs.
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US jobless figures key to economic momentum, November vote
US jobless figures key to economic momentum, November voteUS jobless figures key to economic momentum, November vote
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In these days everyone is trying to keep their job, one man wants to loss his!

Job cuts edge up, still near 10-year low
The number of job cuts planned by employers ticked up slightly in September, rebounding from a rock bottom 10-year low reported in August.
Read more on CNN Money

Economy Sheds 95000 Jobs In September

The U.S. lost more jobs than forecast in September, reflecting a decline in government payrolls that shows the damage being done by rising fiscal deficits.

Read more on Yahoo News

Stocks climb on drop in unemployment claims
Stocks are ending a strong September with more gains Thursday after new reports on unemployment claims, economic growth and manufacturing topped expectations. Thursday’s moves echo what has been driving stocks sharply higher throughout the month: investors… Business – Gross domestic product – Investing – Commodities and Futures – Advisory Services
Read more on San Francisco Chronicle

How States Fared on Jobless Claims, at a Glance
States with the largest weekly changes in unemployment claims, and some reasons, at a glance Jobless claims – Business – Unemployment – Insurance – New York
Read more on ABC News

Claims for unemployment benefits fall; GDP revised up
Applications for jobless benefits dropped last week for the third time in four weeks, a sign that employers are cutting fewer jobs.

Read more on Courier-Post

Jobless claims edge lower
The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits declined last week but continued to drift in the same range they have been since November, according to a government report released Thursday.
Read more on CNN Money

Wow, what a great job hunting tip from a government pawn!

Read more on Grand Island Independent

The Wall Street Journal examines the effects of unemployment.

Should Obama have predicted no higher than an 8 percent unemployment jump?

How long should unemployment benefits last?

What you need to apply for long term unemployment.

A new senate bill is in the works to extend unemployment benefits.

Wall street reacted to these numbers with stocks falling sharply. Stock futures also saw a sharp drop. The weak signs of economy recovery are faltering again. There is general sense that all is not really well with the economy.

Despite making smart profits companies are not hiring and in fact many are retrenching workers. The sluggishness of the labor market and the scarcity of jobs is putting a strain on an economy that’s trying hard to recover from the longest downturn since the Great Depression.

Numbers posted by US retailers for July show that sales are much below expectations. Everything points to people’s fears about unemployment and general economic climate is forcing consumers to cut back on spending.

Here are links to 5 articles

Weekly Jobless Claims Show Unexpected Increase

There was an unexpected increase in jobless claims for the week ending July 31st. Experts expected a drop in the claims. But, instead unemployment has jumped up by 19,000 renewing worries about the sluggish labor market. This is the largest unemployment jump we have seen since April when the claims stood at 480,000.

Initial Weekly Unemployment Claims Up to 479,000 But No Tier 5 Unemployment Benefits Extension for 99ers

This week’s latest data points to jump in the unemployment claims by over 19,000. 99ers are now excluded from these numbers and can claim no benefits. In the current job market in the US it is impossible to find a job.

Increase in Jobless Claims Weighs on Stock Futures

Stocks futures moved down on news that jobless claims have jumped up in the week ending July 31st. These numbers clearly rattled the stock markets as the expected at expected a drop in claims by around 2000 and number going down to 455,000 claims instead of jumping up to 479,000. This number is now the close to April 10 numbers of 480,000.

US jobless statistics: employment insurance claims up

Last week’s unemployment numbers indicate that more Americans are claiming unemployment benefits which means joblessness is rising and economic recovery moderating

New claims for jobless benefits rise to 479K

Last week saw a jump in jobless claims indicating that companies are still retrenching and hiring still remains week. Despite higher corporate profits and a recovering economy companies are not hiring .

US jobless claims rise, cast a pall on economy

Unexpected rise in US unemployment benefits indicates that economic recovery is still weak. The new numbers have cast a pall of gloom on the economy.

The scarcity of jobs is putting a strain on the economy’s fragile recovery from its longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression.”

It is predicted that the cut in the number of Census workers at the last phase of the population count resulted in the loss of 600,000 payrolls.  According to the Census Bureau, 144,000 workers have already been made redundant with a possibility of 200,000 additional cuts  in the near future as population count winds down, which in turn will further skew the payroll figure for coming months.

Economists predicted before the official government report due on August 6, that this will cause a significant drop in consumer expenditure for the coming months of this year. Last month proved to be a slower one for both manufacturing and service industry, as a result in the beginning of the second part of July the economic recovery deteriorated. According to Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairperson, joblessness is the “the most important” problem that economy is confronting.

The silver lining is, economists are saying that private market, which shows an employment increase of 90,000 in July, will be a much better estimator for unemployment in 2010 and for seven straight months factory payroll registered a steady increase. Also, the service industry is expected to show a steady expansion during month of July, in August 4 report of Institute for Supply Management, though the rate is expected to be a bit slower than that of June.

It is predicted by economists that the current unemployment situation would continue the ongoing trend of consumers saving more and spending less for the rest of this year.

Some related and helpful links:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-01/unemployment-rate-in-u-s-probably-rose-raising-risk-of-slower-spending.html

Geithner: U.S. unemployment could rise
Unemployment Probably Rose

Economic Rebound Slows

When are the Unemployment Checks be Sent Out?