As the Obama Administration struggles to come to terms with Tuesday’s election of Republican Scott Brown to the US Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, Americans are seeing another rise in jobless claims. The Department of Labor’s weekly jobless number rose by 36,000 in the report released this morning.
Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 36,000 to 482,000 in the week ended Jan. 16, according to the Labor Department’s weekly report Thursday. The previous week’s level was revised upward to 446,000 from 444,000.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a decrease of 4,000 initial claims.
The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, also increased as well last week. The Labor Department said the four-week moving average increased by 7,000 to 448,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 441,250.
Obama made an appearance at the Democrats annual retreat to pledge his support for them, and his willingness to campaign on their behalf, in exchange for passage of his health care bill.
Seeking to portray themselves as hard at work rather than relaxing as millions of Americans remain unemployed, Democrats eschewed their usual three-day trip to Kingsmill Resort and Spa in Williamsburg in favor of an auditorium at the visitor center.
That’s the description of the Democrats – “hard at work”. Normally they would be living it up, but because America is unemployed they’ll portray themselves as hard at work. Good to know they’re willing to put us first since their health care takeover clearly doesn’t.
US car manufacturers have indicated that hiring may resume as sales pick up in the rebounding economy. The Wall Street Journal reports that all three US manufacturers commented at the Detroit auto show that hiring is on the agenda.
GM, Ford and Chrysler all saw hiring on the horizon, and even Toyota indicated it would ramp up its US production. While this is good news for those out of work, the article does note that the hiring will still be well below the 126,000 jobs shed during the down turn.
Speaking of jobs, the White House has walked away from its claims of saving and creating jobs. After their earlier attempts were riddled with holes and multiple media outlets mocked the staggering number of errors, the administration has simply changed the rules. No longer will they count jobs “saved or created,” but instead focus on jobs funded. Under the new rules, it no longer matters if the jobs are existing jobs, new jobs, or even people never in danger of losing their jobs.
Some Google employees in China may be in danger of losing a job, however. After a cyber-attack it says was aimed at Chinese Human Rights Activists, the search provider has reversed a decision to censor Chinese content. Google had come under fire for its decision to placate the Chinese communists by filtering and censoring search results by Chinese citizens. Following the attack, however, Google announced it would no longer do so. If that makes the Chinese unhappy, Google has indicated it will shutter its Chinese operations.
The nation posted another 85,000 lost jobs this morning – keeping the jobless rate at 10%. The numbers were worse than the 8,000 lost jobs analysts had expected. The bad jobs numbers demonstrate, yet again, that the massive stimulus pack is failing to create jobs.
As “alleged” terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab heads to court today in Detroit, experts agree there isn’t much “alleged” about it. It’s fairly cut and dry when six foot flames shoot from your underwear.
Experts say that with so much evidence stacked against Abdulmutallab, his defense team is left with few options as the case moves forward.
Attorneys outside the case say the 23-year-old’s lawyers can challenge incriminating statements to the FBI, seek a mental-health exam for Abdulmutallab — and seriously consider a plea deal.
“This is not a case of mistaken identity or a whodunit. For the defense, it’s damage control,” said Joseph Niskar, a defense lawyer who was involved in a 2001 terrorism case in Detroit that fell apart for the government.
The unemployment numbers for December continue to paint a bleak picture. While the unemployment rate dropped to 10%, the nation still lost 11,000 jobs for the month.
In the meantime, the Obama Administration is preparing “Stimulus II” which looks to be more of the same. When they rammed the last stimulus through – at a cost [...]
In a move that took even long-time observers of the auto industry by surprise, Fritz Henderson resigned from the job of CEO of General Motors yesterday. Daniel Howes has a good look at what he sees as the reason for the departure – a push for speedy resolution to GM’s problems.
“I was totally shocked,” a ranking GM executive told me, calling Henderson’s dismissal a “destabilizing event. This is the second time this year a superb problem-solver has been asked to leave the company. We are making progress on so many fronts. I wonder if the pace of expectations … is realistic.”
Will this make the company’s targets of bailout repayment and a new stock offering easier or more difficult? Time will tell.
Trudi Daniels of WRIF talks with Rep. McCotter about Swine Flu, Wall Street, Executive Pay, and coming together as a community.
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