Retail sales up, foreclosures down, jobless claims down

And all before the "stimulus" passed. This is good news and does point to the CBO prediction of the end of 2009 (even without the "stimulus") being the end of the Deep Recession. (Trying to coin a phrase. Let's see if it goes. I tried "Great Recession" before, but it didn't stick. I like "The Deep Recession" and think it would fit nicely in the history books. :D )
 
Ahhh .. before you start popping the corks on the champagne ...

The number of people requesting first-time unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week, but remained near a 26-year high as companies lay off thousands of workers amid a deepening recession.

WASHINGTON — Nearly 5 million Americans continued to draw jobless benefits late last month, and new requests again exceeded 600,00 as companies lay off scores of workers amid a deepening recession.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of initial jobless benefit claims dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 623,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 631,000 the previous week. The latest tally still was above analysts' expectations of 610,000 claims.

And in a sign that laid-off workers are having difficulty finding new work, the number of people claiming benefits for more than one week rose to 4.81 million from 4.78 million, the highest total since records began in 1967. The continuing claims data lag new claims by a week.

An additional 1.5 million people are receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by Congress last year, bringing the total number of recipients to 6.3 million.

Continuing claims are up sharply from a year ago, when the figure was 2.7 million.

In slightly better economic news, the Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales jumped 1 percent in January, reversing six months of decline and defying expectations of a 0.8 percent drop.

The rise in sales follows a 2.7 percent plunge in December, which marked the weakest holiday selling season since at least 1969.

The 631,000 new jobless claims filed two weeks ago was the highest tally since October 1982, when the economy was emerging from a steep recession, though the labor force has grown by about half since then.

---

Companies from a range of sectors are hemorrhaging jobs as the recession worsens. Consumers have cut back on their spending in response to declining home values and plummeting stock portfolios, and businesses also are tightening their belts.

On Wednesday, Boston-based money manager Putnam Investments said it would cut 260 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force.

A day earlier, General Motors said it would cut 10,000 salaried jobs, or 14 percent of its white-collar employees. FedEx Corp. said Monday it is eliminating 900 positions.

Among the states, California saw the biggest increase in jobless claims, a jump of 20,000 that it attributed to layoffs in construction and service industries. The next largest increases were in: North Carolina, with 8,663; Ohio, with 4,738; Georgia's 4,392; and Kansas, with 3,232.

more at link --
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/12/new-jobless-claims-drop-s_n_166320.html

Everybody is quick to take credit for improvement no matter how miniscule .. but nobody wants to take the blame for continued depression.

Since the "market" wants to take credit for miniscule improvements .. shouldn't it also take the blame?

How about Obambi? Are you sure you want to assign him credit for this?
 
"How about Obambi? Are you sure you want to assign him credit for this? "

Lighten up a little. I was kidding.

And I know it's still dire. I was just happy to see some economic news that was not indicative of a runaway downward spiral. Given the circumstances, I'm glad just to see these small signs that just maybe, we're close to the bottom.
 
I figure the price increase for food and Gas accounted for most of those sales increases.

Gas has gone down hasn't it?

I know that I have been stimulating things by buying books. I have bought so many books in the past few months. I finally have more time that I own, than I ever have before, and that is why I am posting less. I'm reading more.

But I would love to do a book thread here, an ongoing one. It's just that we have so few interesting people here, and too many conservatives, what kind of book thread would it be? The very first time I see Bernie Goldberg's name on it, I will flip out, just flip out! lol Oh, did you know that Cokie Roberts actually published a book? I was in the book store yesterday and I seriously burst out laughing, right there.
 
Gas has gone down hasn't it?

I know that I have been stimulating things by buying books. I have bought so many books in the past few months. I finally have more time that I own, than I ever have before, and that is why I am posting less. I'm reading more.

But I would love to do a book thread here, an ongoing one. It's just that we have so few interesting people here, and too many conservatives, what kind of book thread would it be? The very first time I see Bernie Goldberg's name on it, I will flip out, just flip out! lol Oh, did you know that Cokie Roberts actually published a book? I was in the book store yesterday and I seriously burst out laughing, right there.

Gas has risen in cost here by about 25 cents per gallon during the last 2 months.......up to about $1.79 right now.
 
Gas has gone down hasn't it?

I know that I have been stimulating things by buying books. I have bought so many books in the past few months. I finally have more time that I own, than I ever have before, and that is why I am posting less. I'm reading more.

But I would love to do a book thread here, an ongoing one. It's just that we have so few interesting people here, and too many conservatives, what kind of book thread would it be? The very first time I see Bernie Goldberg's name on it, I will flip out, just flip out! lol Oh, did you know that Cokie Roberts actually published a book? I was in the book store yesterday and I seriously burst out laughing, right there.

What kind of books are you talking about fiction, non-fiction...?
 
Gotta be Sci-Fi. She's a Star Trek fan.

I'll have to re-cycle the two Rush books that were given to me years ago. I have read them, can talk about them, though I don't agree with very much of what is in them. But I figure that would make Darla happy. I am sorry that I haven't read any of Goldberg's books. I'm sure that there are a lot of folks on the left that would like to dis[cuss] them. :)
 
Gas has gone down hasn't it?

I know that I have been stimulating things by buying books. I have bought so many books in the past few months. I finally have more time that I own, than I ever have before, and that is why I am posting less. I'm reading more.

But I would love to do a book thread here, an ongoing one. It's just that we have so few interesting people here, and too many conservatives, what kind of book thread would it be? The very first time I see Bernie Goldberg's name on it, I will flip out, just flip out! lol Oh, did you know that Cokie Roberts actually published a book? I was in the book store yesterday and I seriously burst out laughing, right there.

Gas went up in January.

Was down to about $1.50 here in dec is now aobut $2.00 now here.

Much of our past economic "growth" was just due to higher energy costs in the past. Not real growth.

I figure most all of the 2008 "growth" was just due to higher energy costs.
 
California sucks *ss. It's $2.29 for mid grade and they are about to vote to increase the gas tax another $0.12 or so.

You are correct... CA does indeed suck ass. Given the stench coming out of LA, I would say that is the source of many of your problems. USC, UCLA, Hollywood, etc....
 
Nice to finally see some decent economic news (with "decent" being relative, of course):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072

And, of course, using the metric favored by meme and Yurt, Obama gets full credit for this. Way to go, new Pres!

Was there ever a doubt in your mind that within minutes of Obama being sworn in that msnbc would find the economy improving ?

When Bush had 4.5% unemployment they told you how terrible the economy was...now at 7.5% unemployment, things are looking up...:pke:
The logic of morons.....
Amazing, isn't it....Long live Obama the Great
 
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