- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published December 5, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>LATEST US DATA
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Number of people on dole hits 26-year high
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
(WASHINGTON) Americans confronting lost jobs, wilting retirement accounts and shrinking home values got more evidence yesterday of consumers' weary state and the country's deteriorating job market with the latest batch of bleak economic data.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>In the bag: A grim picture was forming as retailers reported their November sales yesterday </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The number of newly laid-off people signing up for unemployment benefits last week dropped by 21,000 to 509,000, the Labor Department reported. Even with the drop - which was better than the increase economists were forecasting - the level of jobless applications was still quite high and pointed to a deeply troubled employment climate.
The number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits last week climbed to 4.09 million, a 26-year high.
AT&T, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant, announced yesterday that it would slash 12,000 jobs - or about 4 per cent of its work force - in response to all the economic troubles. Job reductions will take place this month and into next year.
A grim picture was forming as retailers reported their November sales yesterday.
Costco Wholesale, usually a strong performer, reported a bigger-than expected drop in same-store sales. Other retailers that saw declines in same-store sales are Bon-Ton Stores, Limited Brands and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.
All told, the Goldman Sachs-International Council of Shopping Centers sales index of retailers is expected to show a one per cent drop in November, slightly worse than the 0.9 per cent decline in October. That would be the weakest November performance since at least 1969 when the index began.
'Basically, shoppers and workers are being told there is no Santa Claus,' said Richard Yamarone, an economist at Argus Research.
Another economic report is expected to show that orders placed with US factories fell in October, reflecting pullbacks from buyers in the United States as well as shoppers overseas, who are coping with their own economic troubles.
Heading into the holidays, the country's economic picture has darkened further, according to a Federal Reserve survey of business conditions around the country released on Wednesday. Americans hunkered down, forcing retailers to ring up fewer sales and factories to cut back on production.
The survey suggested that the country was sinking deeper into recession. 'Economic activity weakened across all Federal Reserve districts,' the report concluded.
The Fed didn't use the word 'recession', but just two days earlier, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared what many Americans already knew in their bones: that the country had been suffering through one since last December. -- AP
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>LATEST US DATA
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Number of people on dole hits 26-year high
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20></TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20></TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(WASHINGTON) Americans confronting lost jobs, wilting retirement accounts and shrinking home values got more evidence yesterday of consumers' weary state and the country's deteriorating job market with the latest batch of bleak economic data.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>In the bag: A grim picture was forming as retailers reported their November sales yesterday </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The number of newly laid-off people signing up for unemployment benefits last week dropped by 21,000 to 509,000, the Labor Department reported. Even with the drop - which was better than the increase economists were forecasting - the level of jobless applications was still quite high and pointed to a deeply troubled employment climate. The number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits last week climbed to 4.09 million, a 26-year high.
AT&T, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant, announced yesterday that it would slash 12,000 jobs - or about 4 per cent of its work force - in response to all the economic troubles. Job reductions will take place this month and into next year.
A grim picture was forming as retailers reported their November sales yesterday.
Costco Wholesale, usually a strong performer, reported a bigger-than expected drop in same-store sales. Other retailers that saw declines in same-store sales are Bon-Ton Stores, Limited Brands and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.
All told, the Goldman Sachs-International Council of Shopping Centers sales index of retailers is expected to show a one per cent drop in November, slightly worse than the 0.9 per cent decline in October. That would be the weakest November performance since at least 1969 when the index began.
'Basically, shoppers and workers are being told there is no Santa Claus,' said Richard Yamarone, an economist at Argus Research.
Another economic report is expected to show that orders placed with US factories fell in October, reflecting pullbacks from buyers in the United States as well as shoppers overseas, who are coping with their own economic troubles.
Heading into the holidays, the country's economic picture has darkened further, according to a Federal Reserve survey of business conditions around the country released on Wednesday. Americans hunkered down, forcing retailers to ring up fewer sales and factories to cut back on production.
The survey suggested that the country was sinking deeper into recession. 'Economic activity weakened across all Federal Reserve districts,' the report concluded.
The Fed didn't use the word 'recession', but just two days earlier, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared what many Americans already knew in their bones: that the country had been suffering through one since last December. -- AP
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
