This morning, the Department of Labor announced that initial unemployment insurance claims rose to 462,000, an increase of 13,000 from last week’s 449,000, itself revised up from 445,000. The four-week moving average, which smooths out the jumpy weekly data, rose to 459,000.
In response to last month’s Glenn Beck-hosted “Restoring Honor” summit, hundreds of thousands plan to descend on Washington for a rally by the Lincoln Memorial next weekend. On Saturday, liberal groups are hosting the “One Nation Working Together” event, making a case for activism for progressive legislation to a More…
Today, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate tracked up in 26 states and the District of Columbia between July and August. Maryland and Florida saw statistically significant increases of 0.2 percent, with slight changes in 25 other states.
At the Roosevelt Institute, Mike Konczal and Arjun Jayadev have an astonishing paper (PDF) closely examining the unemployment numbers and weakness in the labor force. The key finding:
Starting at the beginning of 2009 it is now more likely that someone who is unemployed will drop out of the
Via Felix Salmon, Reuters writer James B. Kelleher has a great, long-form story on unemployed industrial workers and the fate of manufacturing in Michigan. He profiles Scott Stevenson, a blue-collar worker who feels his generation is living more poorly than his parents’. He has been unemployed for years. He More…
Two articles this week take a good look at the Social Security disability insurance program, which has swelled along with the recession — implying that jobless workers, not just the disabled, are taking part.
Good data from Veronique de Rugy at the National Review:
[Nevada] has a 14.3 percent unemployment rate, the highest in the country, and it has so far received $561.55 per person in stimulus funds. That’s a little more than half of the average stimulus per person received by the state
Christina Romer, leaving her position as the head of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers this week, gave a flash response to the jobs report released this morning, which showed a slight rise in the unemployment rate. She focused, as the administration has focused for months, on More…
This morning, the Department of Labor announced that the unemployment rate climbed from 9.5 percent in July to 9.6 percent in August, as economy-wide lack of demand kept businesses from hiring new workers. Some economists expected a worse report, and the August data offers more evidence of a stall-out More…
Economists often describe unemployment as “cyclical” or “structural.” Cyclical unemployment results from broad economic slowdowns: As the economy turns, businesses lay off workers, meaning other businesses suffer, meaning more layoffs. Structural unemployment results from broad economic changes: An economy with a strong apple trade might be becoming an economy with More…
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