True Lies

Lies Lies Lies

Boobberg– Fewer Americans than anticipated filed claims for jobless benefits last week, signaling the worst employment slump in the post-World War II era is easing as the economy expands.

Marketwretch– The number of people filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 502,000 in the week ended Nov. 7, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

That’s the fewest initial claims since early January. Initial jobless claims have hovered above 500,000 for 52 straight weeks, as the unemployment rate has climbed to a 26-year high of 10.2%.

AP — New claims for unemployment insurance fell more than expected last week, evidence the job market is slowly healing as the economy recovers.

Rhoiders– The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits last week fell to the lowest level since January, the government said on Thursday, showing the hard-hit labor market may be slowly improving.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance dropped to 502,000 in the week ended November 7 from a revised 514,000 the prior week. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to slip to 510,000 from an initially reported 512,000.

“It shows that companies are cutting jobs at a slower pace than during the financial crisis,” said Gary Thayer, chief macrostrategist for Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis. “We’re trending in the right direction, but we are probably several months away from (rising) monthly payrolls numbers.”

The truth is that claims rose by 47,000 to 529,000 last week. Over the last two months, claims have risen by 130,000. Over the same period last year, in the midst of a calamitous financial collapse that brought the economy down with it, claims rose by 110,000. That’s not improvement. It’s a catastrophe.

The media is only reporting seasonally adjusted figures, which is hogwash, plain and simple.

Also, continuing claims did not drop in the previous week. They rose by 28,000. This was in spite of the fact that 2.7 million people lost their eligibility to collect benefits. The number eligible for unemployment is now the lowest since December 2007.

The way they report this is criminal. Here’s what the data looks like before all their statistical hocus pocus CRAP. We’re still uptrending on initial claims, and continuing claims are only downtrending because eligibility has collapsed. Millions are falling out of the safety net.

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Click to enlarge