Unemployment, Stocks, Economy

[Will E Worm]

U.S. unemployment rate up in May

Employment rose by only 54,000 jobs in May, raising the unemployment rate to 9.1 per cent, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reported Friday.

The April rate was nine per cent.

The May report said 13.9 million Americans are officially unemployed, and another 8.5 million (sometimes called involuntary part-time workers) are working fewer hours than they want. Those people are working part-time because their hours had been cut back or because they couldn't find a full-time job.

The tiny gain in jobs — headed by increases in professional and business services, health care, and mining — is bad news for the sputtering economy.

Article

Stocks Are Down on Weak Monthly Jobs Report

Stocks on Wall Street declined on Friday after a disappointing monthly government jobs report that showed hiring in the United States slowed in May.

The report from the Labor Department showed the economy added just 54,000 jobs in May, compared with the rise in nonfarm payrolls by 232,000 jobs in April. The report also showed that the unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent in April. May’s payrolls number was well below the 165,000 forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Investors had been digesting weak signals about the economy in the days leading up to the monthly report, with gloomy reports on jobs, manufacturing and auto sales that helped to send stocks down by more than 2 percent this week to their biggest declines in percentage terms since last August. Also this week, yields on 10-year Treasury notes fell below 3 percent for the first time in 2011 as investors prepared for the economy to slow.

Article

 

[Will E Worm]

What's hurting economy? Gas prices, budget cuts, world unrest, European debt.

High gasoline prices, government budget cuts and weaker-than-expected consumer spending caused the economy to grow only weakly in the first three months of the year.

The Commerce Department estimated Thursday that the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter. That was the same as its first estimate a month ago.

Consumer spending grew at just half the rate of the previous quarter. And a surge in imports widened the U.S. trade deficit.

Most economists think the economy is growing only slightly better in the current April-June quarter. Consumers remain squeezed by gas prices, scant pay increases and a depressed housing market.

Analysts estimate that growth has accelerated slightly to around 2.5 percent in the current April-June quarter. For the entire year, they think the economy will grow around 3 percent. That would be little changed from the 2.9 percent growth in 2010.

Growth is expected to improve modestly in the second half of 2011 as stepped-up hiring helps stimulate consumer and business spending. Companies are also benefiting this year from a tax break that lets profitable businesses write off large capital expenditures right away rather than gradually.

Article

 

[Jagger69]

I heard the dreaded "D" (double-dip recession) word for the first time in a long time on the news last night. We're in for a serious depression if the economy takes another shit like it did back in September 2008.

My advice is to get your money out of any stock-market contingent investments unless you want to lose another 40% of your portfolio like I did 3 years ago.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Start a revolution?

 

[lurkingdirk]

Wow, Will E. You've actually stated something and use reputable sources to back up your statements. Excellent!

:clap:

 

[Hot Mega]

Obama's sin in this, setting an unrealistic expectation for the economic turnaround.

If Obama inherited a worse economic circumstance than did Reagan, why should we necessarily expect unemployment numbers to be better than they were under Reagan...? Maybe we/they shouldn't but the unemployment numbers are in fact better than they were under Reagan at equal points in the 2 president's terms.

But according to some Obama is allegedly responsible for destroying the economy ? Go figure...

I wonder if the average American knew this how it would affect all this one termer nonsense....:1orglaugh

It's fair to bash Obama on not closing GiTMO and presumably Libya (for example) but taking him to task on the economy is grossly ignorant in light of the circumstances.

Frankly, I'm just glad things aren't far worse as there is certainly evidence it should/could have been.

 

[Rey C.]

I heard the dreaded "D" (double-dip recession) word for the first time in a long time on the news last night. We're in for a serious depression if the economy takes another shit like it did back in September 2008.

My advice is to get your money out of any stock-market contingent investments unless you want to lose another 40% of your portfolio like I did 3 years ago.

If I had dug a fallout shelter, had my house paid for, had a two year supply of canned goods and a steady supply of nubile young maidens to work the fields, I think it might be fun to sit back and watch what will happen to the global financial markets if the Congress Critters don't find a way to raise the debt ceiling before the gubment runs out of money. Let's see what happens when (not IF) Moodys and S&P cut our credit rating.

No more money for any more stimulus. No more money for Donnie Trump's special tax breaks. No more money for lots of things. And to borrow it will cost more. :nanner:

But if there is a double dip, I agree with you: being long in the equity markets will be painful. My biggest worry is that the crisis with the PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) is going to really hit just as the U.S. economy begins to turn down.