The Double Dip Has Arrived

[nathanm]

I guess I should quantify "bleeding jobs like mad." There were 552,000 fewer government workers in June than there were in April. The private sector was up 1,559,000 in the same time period, although a lot of that is seasonal work. Seasonally adjusted, the private sector added 130,000 jobs in that time frame.

[Conan71]

I guess I should quantify "bleeding jobs like mad." There were 552,000 fewer government workers in June than there were in April. The private sector was up 1,559,000 in the same time period, although a lot of that is seasonal work. Seasonally adjusted, the private sector added 130,000 jobs in that time frame.

Those are positive trends, let's hope it continues, most specifically the growth in private sector jobs.  And let's hope that some of those jobs being lost in the government sector are ones which can be absorbed by the private sector for services the government needs to contract for.

[nathanm]

And let's hope that some of those jobs being lost in the government sector are ones which can be absorbed by the private sector for services the government needs to contract for.

Realistically, I doubt much of the work is going to be shifted to the private sector, since state and local governments are laying off people because they don't have the money to pay them. I think the "recovery" is so weak it's not terribly likely to see the private sector quickly absorb the workers in non-government-related work. There's just not much in the way of excess demand right now.

That's not to say I don't hope for better, I just don't see it as the most likely scenario.

[Gaspar]

So the jobs report shows 139,296,000 people working in July, compared to 139,334,000 in June.  That's a drop of 38,000 jobs.

The number of discouraged workers (those who have given up looking for a job) went from 982,000 to 1.119 million, a difference of 137,000 or a 14 percent increase.

CNN headline "Finally Some Good News" & "Hiring picks up"

MSNBC headline "U.S. economy created 117,000 jobs in July; jobless rate slips
Sigh of relief for Wall Street after worst stock-market sell-off since 2008 financial crisis"

Dipsmiles in the administration thought the market and the people would buy this if disseminated through the state run media.  Throw out the numbers for the folks that have given up and WOW!  Things look better, unemployment drops to 9.1%.  Well, the market did not buy it, and even some of the state news sources like CNBC broke from the pack and started reporting the real numbers.  http://www.cnbc.com/id/44033486

If you continue to read the jobs report you also learn that the duration for people staying on unemployment rose too.  That is probably the most disturbing metric.  It indicates that those who do have marketable skills in this economy are having a harder time finding employment.

[Conan71]

So the jobs report shows 139,296,000 people working in July, compared to 139,334,000 in June.  That's a drop of 38,000 jobs.

The number of discouraged workers (those who have given up looking for a job) went from 982,000 to 1.119 million, a difference of 137,000 or a 14 percent increase.

CNN headline "Finally Some Good News" & "Hiring picks up"

MSNBC headline "U.S. economy created 117,000 jobs in July; jobless rate slips
Sigh of relief for Wall Street after worst stock-market sell-off since 2008 financial crisis"

Dipsmiles in the administration thought the market and the people would buy this if disseminated through the state run media.  Throw out the numbers for the folks that have given up and WOW!  Things look better, unemployment drops to 9.1%.  Well, the market did not buy it, and even some of the state news sources like CNBC broke from the pack and started reporting the real numbers.  http://www.cnbc.com/id/44033486

If you continue to read the jobs report you also learn that the duration for people staying on unemployment rose too.  That is probably the most disturbing metric.  It indicates that those who do have marketable skills in this economy are having a harder time finding employment.

If this had been in 2008, you can bet they would have reported the net loss of 38,000 jobs first then buried the creation of 117,000 jobs in the last paragraph.

[nathanm]

If you continue to read the jobs report you also learn that the duration for people staying on unemployment rose too.  That is probably the most disturbing metric.  It indicates that those who do have marketable skills in this economy are having a harder time finding employment.

If you go back a bit further, the numbers paint a picture of many of the folks in the initial round of layoffs after the crisis began still not being able to find jobs, while those who were laid off after the credit freeze have had a much easier time finding work. With the first round, nobody was hiring, so that group got largely stuck in long term unemployment. More recently, companies seem to have been much more interested in hiring people who haven't been out of work long.

[Teatownclown]

yep

[Gaspar]

Consumer Confidence at 30 Year Low

Confidence among U.S. consumers plunged in August to the lowest level since May 1980, adding to concern that weak employment gains and volatility in the stock market will prompt households to retrench.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment slumped to 54.9 from 63.7 the prior month.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-12/u-s-consumer-sentiment-falls-more-than-expected-to-54-9-in-michigan-index.html

[zstyles]

Finally another chance for me to buy stocks at rock bottom prices! Sold the last batch after their record highs!

[Teatownclown]

WOW!

Again I ask, why did S and P wait until they did for this rating game?

This is food for thought...
Titanic Battle or Insider Trading? The S&P Downgrade and the Bilderbergers: All Part of the Plan?
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26054

"Whatever can be said about the first two weeks of August, their market action was unprecedented, unnatural, and bears close observation."

(Ricky Perry attends the Bilderberger meetings...Presidential candidate? Hmmmmmmmm)

[Conan71]

WOW!

Again I ask, why did S and P wait until they did for this rating game?

This is food for thought...
Titanic Battle or Insider Trading? The S&P Downgrade and the Bilderbergers: All Part of the Plan?
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26054

"Whatever can be said about the first two weeks of August, their market action was unprecedented, unnatural, and bears close observation."

(Ricky Perry attends the Bilderberger meetings...Presidential candidate? Hmmmmmmmm)

Supposedly President Obama's cabinet is/was loaded with Bilderbergers including : Geithner, Summers, Emmanuel.  Supposedly Bernanke, Rubin, and Greenspan are also members.

Hell, I thought Bilderberger was that fancy new burger joint out in SW Tulsa.

In actuality, thought it was another one of Savage's paranoid conspiracy theories.

[Teatownclown]

Savage Nation....he makes some great comments every once in a while. But he's too over the top with anti American rhetoric for me.

[joiei]

How come when the stock market takes a hit of 2 1/2% it is all doom and gloom but when like today the markets end up with a gain of 490 points there is hardly any talk. 

Just curious.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-futures-signal-losses-focus-094410132.html

[Townsend]

How come when the stock market takes a hit of 2 1/2% it is all doom and gloom but when like today the markets end up with a gain of 490 points there is hardly any talk. 

Just curious.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-futures-signal-losses-focus-094410132.html

Average Joe, when the market goes down, thinks "I'm losing money" whether he's got much in or not.  Same Average Joe, when the market goes up, thinks "Only the rich folk are making money off this.".

Plus, 24/7 leads with what bleeds.

[guido911]

How come when the stock market takes a hit of 2 1/2% it is all doom and gloom but when like today the markets end up with a gain of 490 points there is hardly any talk.  

Just curious.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-futures-signal-losses-focus-094410132.html

People will b!tch when they lose money, just a thought. Kinda like my broker calls me when the market is up, crickets when it falls. Also, it's the front page story on Drudge and CNN.com