WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008
U.S. Economy Gets Jolt Of Good News
Unemployment Rate Dips And Only 20,000 Jobs Lost In April In Better-Than-Expected Performance
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Play CBS Video Video New Grads Fear Weak Job Market As the U.S. economy lost jobs for the fourth straight month, many workers and college graduates are scrambling to find employment in the face of fears of a possible recession. Anthony Mason reports.
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For the fourth month in a row, the economy lost jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. But in April the losses totaled 20,000, an improvement from the 81,000 reductions in payrolls logged in March. Job losses for both February and March turned out to be a bit deeper than previously reported.
The latest snapshot of the nationwide employment conditions - while clearly still weak - was better than many economists were anticipating. They were bracing for job cuts of 75,000 and for the unemployment rate to climb to 5.2 percent.
The unemployment rate, derived from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures, fell to 5 percent from 5.1 percent in March. That survey showed more people finding employment than those who didn't.
Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.
In April, construction companies slashed 61,000 jobs. Manufacturers cut 46,000 and retailers got rid of 27,000. Those losses were eclipsed by job gains in education and health care, professional and business services, the government and elsewhere.
The job losses came in areas hardest hit by the housing and credit debacles. The fact that fewer job cuts were ordered in April raised hopes that damages could be limited.
Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians - in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.
Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.
Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1 percent rise from the previous month. That was less than the 0.3 percent rise economists were forecasting. Over the last 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4 percent.
The promising news from the Labor Department has Wall Street poised for a sharply higher opening.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 120, or 0.95 percent, to 13,121.
Wall Street rallied Thursday as investors viewed the rising dollar and falling oil prices as promising signs for the economy. The Dow industrials soared nearly 190 points to close above 13,000 for the first time since Jan. 3.
Meanwhile, the Fed said it will work with European central banks to expand a series of efforts to deal with the global credit crisis. The Fed said it will boost the amount of emergency reserves it supplies to U.S. banks to $150 billion in May, up from the $100 billion it supplied in April.
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- ARE YE CRAZY,,YER ONLY HURTING YERSELVES IF YE BOYCOTT...the military needs to send a message..Don''t fight them wars..THAT IS THE PROBLEM..They are the ones have use the most oil,
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- Ron Paul "REVOLUTION"
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- we the people can STOP all in CONGRESS and the WHITEHOUSE with something so easy, and we would not have to fire a shot at anyone to have this REVOLUTION, THATS RIGHT A REVOLUTION IS WHAT IS NEEDED TO STOP THEM ALL IN THEIR TRACKS.
HOW. WE THE PEOPLE DONT WORK OR DO ANYTHING FOR A FEW WEEKS, SEE HOW FAST THEY START DOING SOMETHING FOR AMERICANS, WHEN NO MONEY IS GOING ONTO THE GOVERNEMNT FOR A FEW WEEKS, SEE NO FOOD BEING DRIVEN TO STORES, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WE AS AMERICANS CAN TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.. SO AMERICANS BETTER WAKE UP AND LETS START A COMPLETE BOY-COTT OF WORK..THIS WILL ONLY WORK IF ALL DO IT.
for-america@hotmail.com - Reply to this comment
- An just think folks, all of this bad news, with one exception, came after we elected the Demos to Congress. What have they done for us. Nothing. They are more interested in finding something to hang Mr Rove over, then to do something about the Oil prices. Simple solution. You authorize drilling in the USA, you authorize building Refinery''s. Just once do something that the President has been asking for for years. Had you done this back in 90''s we would be using our own resources in times like these. I find it so interesting that the very same three folks running for the Presidency, never did anything for the last 3 years. Now of course, its all the PResidents fault. Its Congress that has the power, least we forget that small detail. I say throw them all out, an start fresh in Nov.
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- I don''t think we can take much more "good" news.
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- It is only better because when benefits run out you are no longer counted as unemployed.
It is just smoke and mirrors to cover up the mess this administration as made of our economy.
Make your parents proud George! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by ubrew12 at 01:24 AM
LOL good one man, I can''t top that. :) - Reply to this comment
- Someone needs to write about the authors that fought in WWII and wrote prize-winning tomes about it:
From ''Catch 22'', to ''From Here to Eternity'', to ''The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal'', to ''Tales of the South Pacific'', these soldiers-authors wrote unreservedly about how abysmal war is, how it places ordinary, ethical people at the mercy of the most paranoid, war-mongering, anal-retentive among us.
The overall ''theme'' is that war is a place where the least developmentally developed among us handcuff the rest into playing out their deepest, darkest nightmares. - Reply to this comment
- I just watched the movie Catch-22 again last night for the first time in a while. I recommend it rather than paying $10 at the local theater for some vapid ***.
Its themes are never more relevant than right now: war, manipulation of the truth, everything''s for sale, life is cheap. - Reply to this comment
- Headline: "U.S. Economy Gets Jolt Of Good News...Only 20,000 Jobs Lost In April"
Headline: "Iraq War gets jolt of Good News... Only 100 soldiers killed in April"
Headline: "U.S. financiers get Jolt of Good News... National Debt only expands by 2% in April"
Headline: "Good NEWS for your home... its value only drops by 5% in April"
Headline: "GOOD NEWS for the environment... Polar bear losses to be countered by Grizzly bear gains!"
Headline: "Jolt of GOOD NEWS for the War on Terror... only 30% of world pissed at Americans for killing 300,000 in Iraq, down from 40% last year....
Libs apologize for always looking on the down side, say ''It ain''t NOTHIN'' but good news for ME, from NOW ON!!!'' " - Reply to this comment
- "For the fourth month in a row, the economy lost jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. But in April the losses totaled 20,000, an improvement from the 81,000 reductions in payrolls logged in March. Job losses for both February and March turned out to be a bit deeper than previously reported".
This is like cheering that the ship has stopped sinking, because it finally struck bottom.
Idiots.... - Reply to this comment
- "U.S. Economy Gets Jolt Of Good News...For the fourth month in a row, the economy lost jobs"
And let us not forget: "War is Peace" - Reply to this comment
- Seriously though, they have made changes to the way they calculate the inflation rate over the years, and the goal is always to under report it.
Posted by ontheleft
I can tell by the words you write, that you are a "fat" pig buearcrat - the lowest form of *** on the planet. - Reply to this comment
- ''Unemployment will stay down (even if by cooking the books, if necessary)''
Posted by ubrew12 at 10:20 PM
They play games with the inflation rate as well, especially since government benefits are tied to it. According to the government, inflation went down the last quarter.
''Hey I''m bureaucrat Bob working over at the BLS, and I just found a price on eggs we can use. There''s a store in Wintucky, Alabama that has them on sale for 39 cents, that''s 2 cents less than the ones we found last time in Weeville, North Dakota.''
Seriously though, they have made changes to the way they calculate the inflation rate over the years, and the goal is always to under report it. - Reply to this comment
- CBS Liars: A "Jolt of good news?" Hardly. This is just a blip on a steady downhill trend. Who do you think you''''re fooling by calling it a jolt? You''''re ignoring all the other negative economic data.
Housing prices: DOWN
Inflation (excluding food and gas): UP
Including food and gas: WAY UP
Value of the US Dollar: WAY DOWN
REAL unemployment: UP
Health care costs: WAY UP
Homelessness: UP
Try reporting the truth for a change, even if it''''s unpleasant.
Posted by gce65
I would say, "Political Puppets" is a more accurate evaluation of CBS News. Actually, they make themselves out to hypotical croonies, and double-minded deceptionist when they print fiction like this article.
Many will sell their very soul for a piece of pie in the end-times. Society in America has grown into a world of lust-mongers and dogs. Why would the slaves that work the CBS corporation be any different. - Reply to this comment
- gce65 said: "This is just a blip on a steady downhill trend. "
I''m not so sure.
The Dow will go up. Unemployment will stay down (even if by cooking the books, if necessary).
So, for many, America will appear to remain a viable entity, especially for those with investments. For the rest of us, who work for a living? The dollar will keep dropping (meaning our ''buying'' power in this international market will continue to drop), our home values will keep dropping (meaning Chinese or Arabians will have increased ability to purchase America out from under our feet), our earnings power will decrease (cuz we''re PAID in dollars), and our ownership of the Reagan/Bush debt will INCREASE (as the connected American rich find important reasons to move their assets overseas, aka Halliburtons move to Abu Dhaibi).
But, hey, don''t worry. Watch ''ironman'' this weekend! Watch something else NEXT weekend. Keep watching until America has been sold out from under us. - Reply to this comment
- CBS: What are your top business stories while you report this "jolt of good news?"
Let''s see...
Microsoft May Make Hostile Bid for Yahoo
US Economy...Jolt of Good News
Airlines Slow Down Flights to Save Fuel
US Economy Sheds Jobs As Costs Go Up
Fed Trims Interest Rate 1/4 Pt
GM Posts $3.3B Loss in 1st Qtr
Iran Ends Oil Transactions in US Dollars
US Economy Slows to a Crawl
More Slaughterhouses Cited for Abuse
Consumer Confidence Hits 5-Year Low
Homes Facing Foreclosure More Than Doubled
CBS Profits Rise 14% (Ooooo, good news for YOU!)
Four Wise Ways to Save blah, blah, blah
US Vacant Homes Hit Record High
Now, does that "jolt of good news" perk anyone up? Do you think we can''t read? And if not on YOUR website, on other news websites?
What''s next? A jumbo jet crashes and you focus on the 1 survivor and ignore the 500 dead? - Reply to this comment
- CBS Liars: A "Jolt of good news?" Hardly. This is just a blip on a steady downhill trend. Who do you think you''re fooling by calling it a jolt? You''re ignoring all the other negative economic data.
Housing prices: DOWN
Inflation (excluding food and gas): UP
Including food and gas: WAY UP
Value of the US Dollar: WAY DOWN
REAL unemployment: UP
Health care costs: WAY UP
Homelessness: UP
Try reporting the truth for a change, even if it''s unpleasant. - Reply to this comment
- One analysis I have not seen anywhere is the impact of Baby Boomers retiring or taking the early retirement package as they reach their 60''s.
The only anecdotal evidence is the retirement rate in government (federal, local and state) jobs and the high hiring resulting from that retirement.
Maybe, job losses/gains need to be rethought as to their significance during the Boomer retirment period; i.e., just what is a good jobs number and just what is a good unemployment number....... - Reply to this comment
And the streets of China will be filled with a bunch of unemployed children! Oh the humanity!
:-D
Posted by NAUcoming4U at 08:20 PM : May 02, 2008
What about the chimneys?- Reply to this comment
