you are down and out temporarily....the US govt. is poor and yet they still do it...unlike our "rich" stingy bastards...
UPDATE-U.S. weekly jobless claims jump to 26-year high
Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:05am EST
(Adds details, market reaction)
WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to its highest in 26 years last week, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, as a deepening recession forced employers to cut back hiring.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits jumped by 58,000, the biggest increase since September 2005, to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 in the week ended Dec. 6 from an upwardly revised 515,000 the previous week.
That was the highest print since November 1982, when 612,000 workers submitted new claims for unemployment benefits. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 525,000 new claims versus a previously reported figure of 509,000 the week before.
"When combined with the decline in import prices, these are more signs of an economy that is decelerating on the downside with price deflation. That it will create additional concerns about weakening in the economy and corporate profits," said Jim Awad, chairman at W.P. Stewart & Co in New York.
U.S. equity index futures lost more ground, indicating a lower open on Wall Street, while government bond prices briefly rose and the dollar extended losses.
The tide of workers applying for state unemployment benefits had briefly ebbed in the prior two weeks, but have now surged as companies respond with aggressive job cuts to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
So far this week, scores of companies have announced job cuts. Data last week showed employers reduced just over half-a-million jobs in November, the largest number in 34 years, driving the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent -- the highest since 1993.
Thursday's data showed the four-week moving average of new jobless claims, a better gauge of underlying labor trends because it smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose to 540,500 from 526,250 the prior week, the highest since Dec. 18, 1982 when a reading of 554,500 was recorded.
Continuing claims jumped to 4.43 million in the week ended Nov. 29, also a 26-year high, from 4.09 million the previous week. The 338,000 increase in continuing claims matched the gain recorded in the week ended Nov. 30, 1974.
Analysts had estimated so-called continued claims would be 4.10 million.
The insured unemployment rate, a measure of the workforce receiving unemployment benefits, rose to 3.3 percent in the week ended Nov 29, up from 3.1 percent the prior week. This was the highest reading since August 1992. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
UPDATE-U.S. weekly jobless claims jump to 26-year high
Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:05am EST
(Adds details, market reaction)
WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to its highest in 26 years last week, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, as a deepening recession forced employers to cut back hiring.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits jumped by 58,000, the biggest increase since September 2005, to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 in the week ended Dec. 6 from an upwardly revised 515,000 the previous week.
That was the highest print since November 1982, when 612,000 workers submitted new claims for unemployment benefits. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 525,000 new claims versus a previously reported figure of 509,000 the week before.
"When combined with the decline in import prices, these are more signs of an economy that is decelerating on the downside with price deflation. That it will create additional concerns about weakening in the economy and corporate profits," said Jim Awad, chairman at W.P. Stewart & Co in New York.
U.S. equity index futures lost more ground, indicating a lower open on Wall Street, while government bond prices briefly rose and the dollar extended losses.
The tide of workers applying for state unemployment benefits had briefly ebbed in the prior two weeks, but have now surged as companies respond with aggressive job cuts to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
So far this week, scores of companies have announced job cuts. Data last week showed employers reduced just over half-a-million jobs in November, the largest number in 34 years, driving the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent -- the highest since 1993.
Thursday's data showed the four-week moving average of new jobless claims, a better gauge of underlying labor trends because it smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose to 540,500 from 526,250 the prior week, the highest since Dec. 18, 1982 when a reading of 554,500 was recorded.
Continuing claims jumped to 4.43 million in the week ended Nov. 29, also a 26-year high, from 4.09 million the previous week. The 338,000 increase in continuing claims matched the gain recorded in the week ended Nov. 30, 1974.
Analysts had estimated so-called continued claims would be 4.10 million.
The insured unemployment rate, a measure of the workforce receiving unemployment benefits, rose to 3.3 percent in the week ended Nov 29, up from 3.1 percent the prior week. This was the highest reading since August 1992. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
