Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment rate rose and hourly earnings stagnated, offering little evidence the Obama administration’s stimulus package is shoring up the labor market.The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.
Unemployment is projected to keep rising for the rest of the year just as the income boost from the stimulus package fades, undermining prospects for a sustained rebound in household purchases, analysts said. As companies from General Motors Corp. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. cut costs, the lack of jobs will restrain growth.
“This will be another jobless recovery,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We may get positive economic growth driven largely by federal spending, but people on the street will say, ‘Where are the jobs?’”
Stocks slid after the report, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropping 2.2 percent to 903.43 at 10:16 a.m. in New York. Treasuries rose, sending yields on benchmark 10-year notes to 3.512 percent from 3.538 percent late yesterday.
Unemployment Claims
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits last week fell in line with forecasts, Labor also said, indicating firings remain elevated. Initial jobless claims dropped by 16,000 to 614,000 in the week ended June 27, from a revised 630,000 the week before. Full Story........
1 comment:
The foolish $700B+ "stimulus" legislation has already crapped out: these figures are far worse than the ones the White House warned us about if we DIDN'T pass the bill- but it was passed, and still unemployment soars?
Instead of creating jobs, interest rates were bumped up, the dollar slid... with few actual economic benefits.
Much of this is due to the fact that Obama's anti-business agenda has mortified almost every machine of job-and-growth creation in the country.
The Democrats just HAD to insist on tax-n-spend, rather than a tax holiday for, say, six months... can you imagine how things would be doing with a $700B tax cut instead?
And the One couldn't deliver the type of "temporary, targeted, and timely" bill that he promised for weeks, either. Irregardless of his beautified image, in reality Obama lacks the the political stature to control Pelosi and Reid... who hit the trough hard, while bickering like siblings.
The lack of GOP co-conspirators exposed Obama politically... this legislation now looks to be a HUGE gamble. And when all this pork-n-welfare fails to generate any real economic gains... the Democrats could face a bloodbath in 2010.
One could make the argument that Obama knows his legacy will be in tatters by 2012, and could care less how much damage his radical programs do to the economy. He's therefore ramming-through as much of his far-left agenda as he can before the day comes when people cringe at the mere mention of his name-
Sure seems like it.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/
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