New Economic Update (buying, money, unemployment, recession)

[GraniteStater]

Jobless rate in Western US tops 10 percent - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_state_unemployment - broken link)

It is quite sobering to see so many states above 10% unemployment. The regions that appear to be suffering the most are much of the West, the industrial Midwest, and the Southeast.

[Stac2007]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Jobless rate in Western US tops 10 percent - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_state_unemployment - broken link)

It is quite sobering to see so many states above 10% unemployment. The regions that appear to be suffer the most are much of the West, the industrial Midwest, and the Southeast.

I thought the economy was getting better. What happened? How far down does the rabbit hole go?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Stac2007

I thought the economy was getting better. What happened? How far down does the rabbit hole go?

Unemployment is a lagging economic indicator. Hopefully, the unemployment numbers will start to slowly improve over the next several months.

[floridasandy]

i fail to see how unemployment can be a lagging indicator in an economy that is predicated on consumer spending. people might want to see the charts which indicate how the economy is really going:
My Budget 360
you can see the decline in aggregate hours and the increase in part-time hours.

[texdav]

That certainly is much different than when most economist thought that unemployemnt would rise to 10% double digit by the end of summer.Unemployemnt is always lagging but it usually also srabilises at a pouint ;this keeps rising and faster than expected. Economist mostly now see a long flat recovery coming. Businesses have adjuted mcuh of what they can and we now wills ee which ones go under.Certtainly with tweh massive governamnt stimulus spending like never before you would expect the unemploymnet rate to stabvise faster and not keep rising to this point this fast if its working at all.

[HappyTexan]

Texas just hit 7% - heard it on the radio today. It's been in all the magazines as "the best city for jobs". Well the jobs have dried up.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by floridasandy

i fail to see how unemployment can be a lagging indicator in an economy that is predicated on consumer spending. people might want to see the charts which indicate how the economy is really going:
My Budget 360
you can see the decline in aggregate hours and the increase in part-time hours.

That is a very good point.

[Stac2007]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Unemployment is a lagging economic indicator. Hopefully, the unemployment numbers will start to slowly improve over the next several months.

And how is that going to happen? Is Walmart going to open a thousand super centers which pays at best $9 an hour?

[evilnewbie]

Sorry if Walmart is going to offer jobs... it will be in China... exactly where my money is invested in... I have NO faith in the US anymore... I'll let the current government do less and talk more... I ain't buying it...

[user_id]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Unemployment is a lagging economic indicator. Hopefully, the unemployment numbers will start to slowly improve over the next several months.

Actually the numbers are already starting to improve. Initial claims (for unemployment) have been declining for a bit now and continued claims just started to move downward. But both of these figures are still both beyond non-recession levels though, but they seem to hit their peak and are moving down:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHE...aimsJune18.jpg

Anyhow, the unemployment rate is unlikely to improve in a few months. It should keep raising (or stay the same) well into 2010, where as the recession has a good chance of ending this year. Most economists suggest this will be a "jobless recovery" so the unemployment rate could be elevated for many years.