What the unemployment numbers mean
The bleeding is slowing down, but the patient is still sick. That’s one way to look at today’s unemployment numbers.
The government reported that the national unemployment rate fell slightly in July to 9.4 percent, from 9.5 percent in June. Economists had been expecting a small increase.
Meanwhile, employers shed many fewer jobs than economists had been expecting — 247,000 were lost in July. That’s down considerably from the 443,000 job losses in June.
The numbers are an encouraging sign, given the sharp increase in joblessness over the past year. But there’s still a widespread belief that the unemployment rate will rise in the coming months. Certainly, there is no cause for celebration as employer payrolls continue to contract. Until hiring picks up, the job market will not improve.
One of the reasons for the decline in the unemployment rate — the first since April 2008 according to the Associated Press — was that hundreds of thousands of people left the labor force after becoming too discouraged to look for work. As the economy improves, those people will re-enter the labor force, driving up the unemployment rate.
As the day progresses, you may want to scroll down the right hand side of this Biz Beat blog. There is a “Blogroll” with links to conservative and liberal economists who may comment on today’s numbers.
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16 comments Add your comment
This Sorry Government NOT working for Americans
August 7th, 2009
9:21 am
Sorry but the numbers are not good. There are millions of Americans out of work and some of those people will stop getting unemployment soon. The government is also hiding the real numbers so they can push through more spending.
People (the tax payers) need to stop with party and band together. I have never seen such lies in American History. I think that WE THE PEOPLE
This Sorry Government NOT working for Americans
August 7th, 2009
9:22 am
(sorry I hit enter by mistake)
I thin that WE THE PEOPLE
Julie
August 7th, 2009
9:47 am
Sooner or later all recessions end. The last time unemployment was this high was during Reagan’s first term. Unemployment rates officially reached 10% that lasted 18 months into his term. The problem was exacerbated with outrageous inflation. Things could be a lot worse.
SeniorChiefDawginDC
August 7th, 2009
9:56 am
The economy will stop bleeding, but at the same time, inflation is going to go through the roof. Obama is going to usher in the next Ronald Regan..just like carter did.
City Girl
August 7th, 2009
10:10 am
Jobless rate drops? No one told me….I’m still unemployed and have been seeking opportunities in my field for about 10 months.
Need work in Gwinnett Co.
August 7th, 2009
10:18 am
I was laid off and have been looking for work in Gwinnett County for the past eight months. There are no jobs unless you are a registered nurse or computer guru that will help one support a family. Yes, things will get better in time but how much longer? Jobs are needed in Gwinnett County!
Julie
August 7th, 2009
10:56 am
The Republican Party doesn’t have anyone near Reagan’s quality and it looks like they are too busy blaming everyone else for the problems they created, so I don’t expect a Reagan figure coming from that party any time in the next decade.
Norris Hall
August 7th, 2009
11:59 am
* The unemployment rate going down ?
* The stock market is moving up ?
* Economist predicting that the recession is coming to an end?
* Banks starting to lend to each other again ?
* Home sales are rising in some parts of the US ?
Does that prove that Obama’s economic policies are working!!
Don’t bet on it!!
Remember these events just a short year ago…..
* The collapse of Countrywide,Ameriquest, Indymac Bank
* Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
* The propose a $700 billion emergency bailout TARP program
* Washington Mutual seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average caps its worst week ever with its highest volatility day ever recorded in its 112 year history
* Lehman Brothers collapses
* The US Federal Reserve lends $85 billion to American International Group (AIG) to avoid bankruptcy.
* The US government agrees to rescue Citigroup
* Economists start talking about a second great depression
* The collapse of….excuse me? hmmm….you sure…oh…
Ah, Excuse me….
That all took place under the Bush administration?!
…..Never mind.
Angela
August 7th, 2009
12:51 pm
Norris Hall and Julie good comments…You guys could not put it any better. What if McCain was the president, will we still write negative comments or find something negative to talk about? I can not wait until I reah another negative comment/s about our government. President Obama and his adminstration has not been in office for a year, give them a chance to make some changes. It can not get any worst, unless a comet hits the earth. He is working to help all. Remember, he did not created or started this big spending. He inherited this debt and millions of people seen this coming. In 2007, millions of people were getting laid-off in the thousands of each month. Sometimes you got to spend, and improve for something to work. Maybe we need to hire extra workers at the Federal Reserve to make the US currency, If you think thats going to help America get out of debt. Remember there are other countries hurting. Some of these countries even provide free health care for their citizens, I am wondering how they are surviving? Lets work together to clean up this mess and bring our troops home. Remeber that our former President put us war, in another coutry, searching for the same Taliban leader/s. Maybe we need to hire someone to “Low Jack” Bin Laden, so we can track his whereabouts. For many years, I have been reading about people getting killed in the Middle East and even in our own backyards. We need to work together to clean this debt, clean up our society, and bring our soldiers home. With that said, we “ALL” need to come toether and make a change for the better in all of our lives as Americans and stop the back slashing. It’s getting old!
Trudy
August 7th, 2009
1:19 pm
Thanks to President Obama, our economy is recovering! We diverted a depression! We are returning to diplomacy!
And no one has died because Obama is president! No wars have begun! No decapitations! Innocent childrens’ lives are no longer being destroyed by the bush warmongers!
Trudy
August 7th, 2009
1:20 pm
Reagan quality??? What a joke!
wally
August 7th, 2009
4:20 pm
Trudy wrote:
“Thanks to President Obama, our economy is recovering! We diverted a depression!”
Look up the definition of an economic depression. It is characterized by abnormal increases in unemployment, restriction of credit, shrinking output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, reduced amounts of trade and commerce, as well as highly volatile relative currency value fluctuations, mostly devaluations. Any of that sound familiar to you? I’m not sure anything was diverted.
“We are returning to diplomacy!”
We negotiated with a terrorist state for the release of hostages, we sided with a communist regime regarding one countries decision to follow it’s constitution, we tacitly approved of voter fraud and subsequent executions of protesters in another county. All in the news in the last month. Where is the diplomacy?
“And no one has died because Obama is president! No wars have begun!”
Ten-fold increase in US troops sent to Afghanistan and five US Marines killed yesterday. Maybe you meant no terrorists have died…
“No decapitations!”
What about a plea bargain, negotiated by federal prosecutors, for Osiel Cardenas Guillan – a Mexican Drug lord arrested in the United States and known for decapitating his ememies.
“Innocent childrens’ lives are no longer being destroyed by the bush warmongers!”
Back to Afghanistan, where Wednesday morning a US launched drone attacked a house in northwest Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region, killing four people including a young girl.
Do your homework Trudy. Don’t be content to be a liberal mouthpiece regurgitating the talking points you read on MoveOn and the Huffington Post. Educate yourself and you might be able to avoid making another mistake like the one you did when you voted for our current president…
This Sorry Government NOT working for Americans
August 7th, 2009
4:39 pm
Julie, this is not Bush this is Clinton so there.
The figures on unemployment are not correct and either is the numbers coming out of Washington.
Why is the democratic party getting Acorn to attach citizens who dont like the Obamacare bill?
Why are republicans being arrested for voiceing their opinion.
(go look at youtube). Videos do not LIE like the governments rats Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Frank and Dodd.
Every American better be asking the same questions. You have mothers, fathers? Do you have kids? Are any of them disabled mentally? If so you better start opening your eyes because they have no future in the new America.
Computer Analyst
August 8th, 2009
3:50 am
You can make numbers on paper to look good for anybody. The unemployment rate is still too high in the country. We all need our jobs in America. When it comes to the little man the CEO and other executives they’re to busy filling their pockets with lots of money on deals to send jobs to other countries. Suntrust Bank just made allowed IBM to come in and buy both data centers in Atlanta and Durham, and send the jobs to Brazil.
Please do better editing
August 8th, 2009
9:49 am
Example 1: Unger writes Until hiring picks up, the job market will not improve.
Well, duh. Am I reading this wrong or is this a obvious statement of the obvious? This would get a redline from a 9th grade teacher.
Example 2: Unger writes: As the economy improves, those people will re-enter the labor force, driving up the unemployment rate. Well no, just the opposite. As people re-enter the labor force the unemployment rate will go down.
Pretty fraught with elementary errors for such a short article by a full-time professional writer.
Arhur R Thompson
August 9th, 2009
9:57 am
8/9/2009
only 250,000 jobs lost … on top of 8,000,000 in the last 18 months
continued retrenchment of businesses.. layoffs at Delta looming USPS plans on closing 1000 facilities due to internet erosion of their business..furloughs in education it will continue to erode the income coffers of states such as debt heavy Georgia and all the others.
the unemployment rate does not include discouraged workers, underemployed and people not on unemployment compensation add all these in and continued assurance of the actual rate of people over 18 years old is closer to 20% nationwide unemployment. This figure is very similar to the depression era of 25% considering that the work force was about 60,000,000 then which = 15,000,000 people out of work the work force today is about 140,000,000 with 20% actual unemployment = 28,000,000
either out of work , underemployed not on unemployment insurance or too discouraged to even count!! under this scenario we are far worse than the depression OH also add in 3 trillion $ deficit, an unwinnable war in 2 countries, 30 million illegals milking the country dry with crime and freebies for all and a reparation oriented myopic government!!
I suggest everyone hunker down if you have a job pray it is there tomorrow and if you dont pray for divine help!!