Is the economy on the right track?
L.A. Times
2013/01/17 16:09:43
|
|
|||||
|
308 votes
|
|
33% | |||
|
632 votes
|
|
67% | |||
Initial jobless claims fell sharply last week to 335,000, the lowest level in five years in a hopeful sign for the labor market as the new year begins. The number of people filing the first time for unemployment benefits dropped by 37,000 in the week ending Saturday from the previous week's revised figure of 372,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Economists say initial claims below 350,000 a week indicate strong job growth. But the numbers can vary widely from week to week. Analysts had expected a more modest decrease last week, to 369,000, and the sharp drop could reflect the difficulty in making seasonal adjustments to the figures after the holidays.
Economists say initial claims below 350,000 a week indicate strong job growth. But the numbers can vary widely from week to week. Analysts had expected a more modest decrease last week, to 369,000, and the sharp drop could reflect the difficulty in making seasonal adjustments to the figures after the holidays.
Read More: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-job...
Top Opinion
-
Cal 2013/01/17 21:36:38
We should forget about the deficit and work on jobs. Plenty of time to work on the deficit after that. The gun issue while important should be ignored until the job problem is solved.
1) We should increase tariffs. This would encourage business to make things in the US. It would bring in revenues that would allow reducing the debt and increasing working class deductions. It would get people off welfare.
2) There are many things we need in the US that aren't made here. The government should open and run factories to make TV's, Computers, and appliances. It would take a while to get off the ground but it would provide jobs from day one. Once up and running the profits could be used to reduce the debt.
3) The banks are sitting on a lot of money they should be nationalized with appropriate compensation to the stockholders.
4) The retirement age should be lowered to 60.
5) The cap on social security taxes should be removed.
6) Business expenses deductions for moving a job out of the US should be ended. Today moving expenses can be deducted regardless of destination.
7) We should go to medicare for all.
8) The first 10,000 in money dividends from stocks should be tax free anything above that should be taxed as ordinary income. Stock dividends...
We should forget about the deficit and work on jobs. Plenty of time to work on the deficit after that. The gun issue while important should be ignored until the job problem is solved.
1) We should increase tariffs. This would encourage business to make things in the US. It would bring in revenues that would allow reducing the debt and increasing working class deductions. It would get people off welfare.
2) There are many things we need in the US that aren't made here. The government should open and run factories to make TV's, Computers, and appliances. It would take a while to get off the ground but it would provide jobs from day one. Once up and running the profits could be used to reduce the debt.
3) The banks are sitting on a lot of money they should be nationalized with appropriate compensation to the stockholders.
4) The retirement age should be lowered to 60.
5) The cap on social security taxes should be removed.
6) Business expenses deductions for moving a job out of the US should be ended. Today moving expenses can be deducted regardless of destination.
7) We should go to medicare for all.
8) The first 10,000 in money dividends from stocks should be tax free anything above that should be taxed as ordinary income. Stock dividends should be taxed in the year given at strike price.
9) A 1/4% tax per stock trade should be enacted to discourage speculation.
10) The US should close all military bases in Europe and the middle east after a 2 year notice. The Europeans can afford to defend themselves.
FYI: those Unemployed numbers are just the number of people drawing unemployment. Many of them are reaching the end of limits and being forced off the rolls.
Hey let's do some math. Multipy xo 52 weeks and it's almost 20 million people in one year who applied for FIRST time UE claims.
This is not counting all of the people whose claims have expired and are still jobless!
Obi's zombies want Obamaphones and fool stamps, not jobs.
I don't know that I'm altogether thrilled - if lack of valuable national assets is indeed the reality - if the sole reason the right's true constituency has ceased selling America out to the communists is because America has effectively been gutted.
You watch the numbers for TRENDS. Six weeks of very low numbers begins to make a trend. Twelve weeks of "lowest level in five years" actually establishes a trend.
Of course, the trend may or may not be due to a strong economy. When your employment figures show that only one in twenty people actually have a job, and that all those jobs are critical or semi-critical, it simply means that there are no more people to lay off!
People complain about all these jobs going offshore yet they're quick to jump into the "Apple" bandwagon and buy overpriced tablets, phones &MP3; players and Apple has to be one of the worst offenders, building in China, paying wages that are unthinkable & the taxes they pay, we won't even go there!
I shop for American made to fill my toolboxes, which earn my living. It gets harder each year to find American made. Today, I settle for European, Brazilian, Japanese, and then anyplace that isn't China. I pay extra, but I get quality. Wrenches that don't snap in two the first time I put some strength into them are essential to earning a living.
Interesting point on tools - The gold standard for me is USA tools - Snapon being my favourite. Expensive but fantastic quality... is De Walt still a USA based company?
At a guess - DeWalt's top of the line tools are probably made in the US, and they've outsourced their less expensive items. That seems to be standard procedure these days.
For instance, if unemployment numbers improve because a bunch of people fell off the list because they were on for too long, that doesn't mean there is more employment or the economy is doing better...it just means the stat improved for other reasons...but it sounds real good politically as long you don't look too deep.
Oh wait - it isn't restricted to politics, is it? Just look at the titles of the most popular polls here on sodahead. "Should Justin blah blah blah", "Is Lady Gaga blah blah blah". Shallow? Yep, shallow.
For those who can't count, Obamacare's 2700 pages or "law" (if you can call it lawful and equitable) has generated 16,000 pages of regulation that include items not mentioned in the Obama signed bill. Obamacare alone is crippling jobs as the jobs depend on the number of employees. Worked your 30 hour work week yet?
Did you forget what it was under Republicans when you were screaming?
To lower the slope on that statistic a little, they need to raise the SS and medicare eligibility ages by 1 year every-other-year for the next 30 years to get the USA life expectancy to eligibility relationship back to where it was when SS started paying out in 1940.
When SS was originally setup in 1930, the eligibility age was actually 1 year HIGHER than average life expectancy in the USA was in 1930. Going by that relationship, the eligibility age today should be 81, and the FICA-SS and FICA-HI deductions COMBINED from most people's paychecks would be less than $50.