Bad News for the Democrats

[Tigermike 3,060]

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/wm380.cfm

unemployment rate is below 6 percent. Widespread evidence suggests this economic growth -- now at four consecutive months -- will continue throughout 2004 and probably 2005.

[War Eagle 96 10]

It's going to be even lower. Word is, the restaurant industry is showing signs of a huge hiring surge we should be back to the dot-bomb bubble in no time.

Only this time it's real growth....

God help us keep the terrorists at bay - it's the only thing that can stop us.

[CShine 0]

JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE AGAIN

New claims for unemployment benefits up a second straight week, exceeding analyst estimates.

December 11, 2003: 3:56 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Jobless claims rose in the United States last week, the government said Thursday, coming in higher than Wall Street forecasts.

The Labor Department said 378,000 people filed new claims for state unemployment benefits in the week ended Dec. 6, compared with a revised reading of 365,000 the prior week. Economists, on average, expected 359,000 new claims, according to Briefing.com.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/11/news/economy/jobless/

[TitanTiger 20,519]

From that same CNN/Money article:

While jobless claims have risen for two straight weeks, they have remained below 400,000, a level that most economists consider to be an indicator of an improving labor market. 

[aucorner 0]

a lot of manufacturers shut down this time of year and tell their employees to file for unemployment to cover wages for the two to four week period...........the numbers that truly mean something will start to surface around the end of January.

[CShine 0]

Which also leads one to wonder if the recent upswing in hiring was due only to the Christmas season. We will only know that we're out of the woods on the employment front when we've had at least two consecutive quarters of job growth, meaning that it's not just seasonal factors at work. The only way we can be sure that the job market has turned around is if we strong, sustained job for several months into the new year. Only then can we make a fair judgment about whether or not the economy has turned the employment situation around for the better.