US economy hobbled by weak hiring, manufacturing

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

WASHINGTON (AP) - A trio of reports Thursday offered a reminder that the U.S. economy is struggling to grow and add jobs.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits last week stayed near a level that signals only weak hiring in September. Manufacturing shrank for a fifth straight month in the Philadelphia region, a sign that weaker global growth has hurt demand for American-made goods. And a measure of future economy activity declined for the second time in three months.

The data followed a poor month of hiring in August and the Federal Reserve's move last week to launch new stimulus measures to give the hobbled recovery a jolt.

"There certainly doesn't appear to be much improvement in the performance of the economy," said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. "Manufacturing continues to soften and decelerate. We shouldn't expect to see substantial gains in hiring or output from manufacturers any time soon."

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120920/DA1DLIG00.html

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In this Friday, Sept. 7, 2012, photo, WorkForce One staffer Rose Capote-Marcus works with a client, Pen Osuji as he works on job applications at the Hollywood, Fla. unemployment office. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 382,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

[Teamster Jeff]

1. "Would you like fries with that?"

Most of the new jobs are low paying service sector jobs. So even if unemployment goes down that only solves part of the problem.

[Newest Reality]

2. It is much worse

"out there" then many who are still homed and employed and getting by realize, that is, unless they have enough family and friends who are dangling or dropping out to make it clear.

There must be some sort of threshold we will have to reach before a significant number of us will realize just how deep and pervasive the current crises actually is.

The key point is that media will keep you posted on how the system is functional and continuing forward while human lives are rather quietly being devastated.

The other factor is about who really wants to open-up to, and acknowledge, a disaster in progress when that awareness insinuates a personal stake or vulnerability? Even if you are living paycheck to paycheck, why entertain the ensuing outcome of going homeless?

We all may want comfort, but the kind that wraps us in blinders is what keeps the process going and assures that no help will be available to the many who are falling by the wayside as we speak. No solution can come from clinging to a paltry delusion that excludes others and their outcomes from our circumstance.

No, there is no help for you if you are single and lose. You can get food stamps, but your only recourse without a home or address is to live on the streets. Seeing how it is illegal to be homeless in most places, you will then be exposed to living in prison at some point. There is no safety net at all, if you don't have friends or family to help you. Even if you do, that can also wear-out or leave you lost and alone. No, you won't be a welfare King or Queen, you'll just wander and hope for a safe place to sleep and worry about eating.

This is where we are now, and some of you are either very close to falling into that abyss or closer to it than you think. The poor are getting poorer and the rich and those who can still live in the delusion of security are both roping off the new scapegoats who are the homeless, (both working and unemployed) that grow rapidly now and will be in your view as you go to work and continue to function with food, clothing, shelter, bathrooms, showers and other luxuries.

We are all in this together. Some of us are more in this together than others.