U.S. weekly jobless claims shoot up to 542,000

[UpInArms]

Source: CBS Marketwatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Weekly U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 27,000 to 542,000 in the week ending Nov. 15, the highest since July 1992, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of initial claims climbed by 15,750 to 506,500, the highest since January 1983. Continuing jobless claims rose by 109,000 to 4.01 million in the week ending Nov. 8 and the four-week average of continuing claims rose by 71,250 to 3.86 million. The insured unemployment rate climbed to 3.0%.

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/US-weekly-jobless-claims-shoot/story.aspx?guid=%7B758E71CD%2DD710%2D44C5%2D8426%2DB9724245DDFC%7D&dist=hplatest

[Sedona]

1. just so you know....

anyone who is an independent contractor like real estate agents, construction workers, hairdressers, nail techs....don't count in these numbers. We're not elligible for unemployment compensation, there's a hell of a lot more out of work than these number show.

[Diana Prince]

2. Also....

Those who have used their unemployment benefits and are no longer eligible are not counted in these numbers either.

[shadowknows69]

3. Ding ding ding

We're already approaching the next depression, and as usual they're trying their damndest not to tell us. Hopefully people won't still be blind when we're all starving and homeless.

[nc4bo]

4. Remember the Titanic wasn't actually sinking until it started sinking :S nt

[shadowknows69]

5. True, but we could have watched out better for that damn iceberg

[nc4bo]

6. Ain't THAT the truth! nt

[pinqy]

7. But they do show up in the Unemployment figures

Don't confuse these figures, which deal solely with Unemployment Insurance, with the main Unemployment rate (November figures come out on December 5th). The Insured Unemployment rate, for the week ending Nov 8 is 3%, but the Unemployment rate for October is 6.5%

[Sedona]

8. I became unemployed in October

as an independent contractor subbing for a real estate firm. No one in the government was notified. How would that count?

[pinqy]

11. The Unemployment rate is a survey

The Unemployment rate is a survey (The Current Population Survey) conducted by the Census Bureau of 60,000 households every month. The reference week is the week of the month that contains the 12th, so the week of October 12-18 was the reference week in October. The respondents are asked if they worked for at least one hour in the reference week. A yes means employed. If "No," they are asked if they are able to work in the next 2 weeks and if they actively looked for work in the last 4 weeks (just reading the classifieds does not count as "active.") If yes to those 2, the person is "Unemployed." The 60,000 households are representative of the nation as a whole, and the sample is used to determine the overall number, at a 90% confidence rate of 1.6 standard errors. The Employed and Unemployed make up the Labor Force, and the Unemployment rate is Unemployed/Labor Force.

So, yes, you would count, as far as you are represented by other people in the survey.

[Sedona]

12. thanks pinqy, I never knew that

[sarcasmo]

15. That figure is garbage, here in Michigan I know many people off the books already.

My company closed in April and all but the dispatchers were contractors, no one has called me and ask me about my status.

[pinqy]

16. What part of "survey" do you not understand?

There are no "books." And no one is going to call you in particular just because your company closed. Households are randomly selected and rotated. The first visit is a personal visit. There are other surveys you would show up in, such as payroll employment survey (I can't remember exactly how contracters are dealt with, though), and the Job Openings and Layoff Survey, and the Business Employment Dynamics Survey. Those all use payroll information and interview establishments. The Unemployment rate is based on the Current Population Survey, and that's a sampling of households that are selected.

[sarcasmo]

18. Where in my post did I use the word survey, I used the word figure.

The percentage they give is wrong in every unemployment number. On edit: the 9.5 percent figure just released for my state, Michigan, is figured based on jobless claims and unemployment payments, not a survey.

[sarcasmo]

14. Excellent point, when my company closed in April all twenty of us weren't counted on the books.

[gristy]

9. Gotta love AP's spin on this

"Jobless claims jump unexpectedly to 16-year high"

Yeah, who'd a thunk? :freak:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081120/economy.html

[PugNot]

10. Obama's Economic Policies Should Turn This Around

Or else he will be a one-termer...

He had better reverse those tax cuts for the rich for starters...And create those green jobs..

Time will Tell...

[sofa king]

13. So in eight years, has there been any net job gain?

[sarcasmo]

17. Ten Million Americans out of work. I figure MSM won't start using Depression

until Januaray 22nd.