Unemployment

Is the U.S. in recession or not? Well, the U.S. printed a 3.3% number for growth in the second quarter according to the data released last week. Since then, I have been asking myself why we shouldn't believe the U.S. is in an expansion…

The Department of Labor released jobless claims numbers today at 8:30 AM. Jobless claims came in at 445,000, down from an upwardly revised 451,000 the week before. Claims are averaging now 440,000 for the past 4 weeks, 115000 higher than…

For every business cycle since 1929, when U.S. unemployment data was first calculated, when the unemployment rate has gone up more than 1% in one year's time, this has spelled recession. Moreover, the unemployment rate has never risen 1.0%…

The unemployment rate in the U.S. jumped 0.4% to top 6.1% for the first time in five years. This rise was much, much larger than expected and makes it almost certain that the United States is in recession. Updates to follow as I crunch the…

For the past several weeks, jobless claims have arguably been distorted by seasonality and the extension of unemployment benefits from six to nine months. However, the numbers have risen well above the critical 400,000 mark. Are these…

U.S. jobless claims for the past week were down to 425,000 from 435,000 last week and as high as 457,000 three weeks ago. While seasonality is big part of the data in August, this is a comforting change from the recent…

When we think about outsourcing, we usually think about Call centers in India or manufacturing jobs in China. Well, what about automatic cashiers?I went to the local CVS (Shoppers Drug Mart or Boots for Canadian and British readers) this…

U.S. jobless claims were down 12,000 this week to 430,000. However, the 4-week average increased to 445,750 and is now 125,750 higher than a year ago. Over the past 4 or 5 weeks, claims have spiked up in part due to the extension of…

US Jobless claims came out again today as they do every Thursday at 8.30AM. The numbers were not good, and give a clear indication of why the Fed will not cut rates in the face of 5.6% inflation. Initial claims came in at 450,000, moving…

A week ago, jobless claims rose to a multi-year high of 448,000 on the back of seasonal adjustments. This week is no different, but there are some telling changes that make this week's numbers more worrisome.First, jobless claims hit a…