Developing: Pakistani Plane Escorted by UK Fighter Jets — 2 Men Arrested

Doc Thompson’s 24-hour radio marathon, ‘#24forok,’ continues until 9 am ET — Listen Live!

Business

Weekly Jobless Aid Claims Fall to 350K — But There’s a Catch

Dec. 27, 2012 8:54am Jonathon M. Seidl

Weekly Jobless Aid Claims Drop to 5 Year Low

Job seekers stand line during the Career Expo job fair Wednesday, March 7, 2012, in Portland, Ore. Credit: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The average number of people seeking unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 in the week ended Dec. 22. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to a nearly five-year low of 356,750.

Still, the figures were affected by the Christmas holiday. A department spokesman said many state unemployment offices were closed Monday and Tuesday and unable to compile complete data. Fourteen states provided estimates and the department estimated the numbers for five additional states.

The government might estimate one or two states in a typical week, but 19 state estimates are unusually high.

Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. They have mostly fluctuated this year between 360,000 and 390,000. At the same time, employers have added an average of 151,000 jobs a month in the first 11 months of 2012. That’s just enough to slowly reduce the unemployment rate.

The recent decline in unemployment benefit applications suggests companies are not yet slashing jobs because of concerns over the “fiscal cliff.” That’s the name for sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect next week unless the Obama administration and Congress can reach a deal before then.

Still, unemployment remains high and companies are reluctant to ramp up hiring. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because many of the unemployed stopped looking for jobs. The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for work.

Negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders on a package to avoid the fiscal cliff stalemated last week. Obama and congressional lawmakers return to Washington Thursday with just days to go before the deadline.

There are signs the economy is improving. The once-battered housing market is recovering, which should lead to more construction jobs in the coming months. Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November, a sign they are investing more in equipment and software. And Americans spent more in November. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic growth.

While a short fall over the cliff won’t push the economy into recession, most economists expect some tax increases to take effect next year. That could slow growth.

Consumers are starting to worry about higher taxes. A measure of consumer confidence fell to a five-month low this month, a survey released Friday found. And reports show the holiday shopping season was the weakest since 2008, when the country was in a deep recession.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (116)

RaydocX
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:23pm
remember when Communism fell and we were amazed to discover all the rosy figures and statistics they had been releasing were steaming pile of…

it appears to me the same thing is being done here, now… Reagan made the Soviets spend themselves out of existence, whereas we are ‘doing it to ourselves’ insofaras it is our President spending the money and his treasury secretary printing it… and then LYING about job numbers, true unemployment, housing market, tax levels, who will pay the ‘increased taxes,’ oh, and what we are doing in foreign affairs.

I don’t know about where you live, but our local mall has as many vacancies as stores. the stores were crowded before Christmas, but there were not the huge piles of empty packaging in the trash / recycling after the holiday. Food prices are significantly higher, fuel prices ‘feel low’ but are still $3 a gallon.

This is not a healthy economy, and the longer ANYONE accepts the cooked numbers ignoring those no longer working, for example, or not reporting corrected numbers when certain states or cities don’t report, things will continue to worsen.

Not that we need more ‘stimulus’… at an estimated cost of $400,000 for every job ‘created’ I believe leaving those BILLIONS in the hands of the citizens would have created more jobs, which would have lasted longer. But as long as we have this group reporting, listening to the numbers is pointless…

Toure, are you going to lie to us all with this report? S

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
bluehen
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:20pm
@AVENGERK

Ralph Maddow.. Dude, you such a child its unreal. Because she is a lesbian, time to make fun of her..hahaha.. As for the facts behind the blog/graph, you just can’t stomach. I know, facts/numbers, fall flat on a troglodyte like you.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:50pm
  Tammy Bruce is a lesbian. She is a conservative. I listen to her on radio. I don’t laugh.
  
  Rachel Maddow is a lesbian She is a leftist. I laugh at her.
  
  See the difference? … I though not. Do you have pointy ****?
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:36pm
  Yeah…I’m really impressed with your piousness BLUECHICKEN.
  Maddow’s a woman? When did Keith Olberman’s nephew become a woman?
  You want facts champ? MSNBC took a photo of a black man at a town hall meeting who was carrying a firearm (legal in his state). They proceeded to crop the photo to hide his race, then used the cropped photo to attempt to smear the tea parties as racist and dangerous. Maddow gleefully joined in with the deception.
  Get better material you idiot.
  
  Report this comment
- Kregneva
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 3:01am
  AverageRK, you have earned such a POS record in Blue Texas that all the readers here demand a web link every time you make a claim. So far, 85% of the time I cannot confirm what you claim as truth. You seem to be a BS outfit. The others here in Texas are asking me WTFO.
  
  Report this comment
bluehen
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:18pm
@THE-MONK

Not sure what you’re talking about pal, but for a salaried employee such as myself that holds a management position within my firm, there is not lunch (hardly a lunch) as a lunch hour, let alone clocking in and out. Soooo, good point?

@ZIPIT

Looks like someone is still finger painting.. As for the “if it doesn’t affect me bs”, dude, you’re too funny.. Lets not forget about the social programs TO HELP LESS FORTUNATE PEOPLE that the dem’s keep putting forward but keep getting shut out bc of the grand ol’ party. Lets just look at UB, they keep trying to cut those for people that can’t help their unemployment, but you guys can’t wait to cut that. Please moron. Come correct at me or don’t come at all.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RaydocX
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:29pm
  @BooHen…
  
  YOUR Harry Reid refuses to take up more measures than we have seen refused by the GOP… unless they have an iron clad ‘you have to pass it to find out what’s in it’ majority, YOUR party was the first that ignored little things like including the other party, cooperation, and negotiation.
  
  As for your ‘plans to help the underserved,’ let’s look at the numbers… Romney’s 47% is fairly accurate… Those people don’t pay taxes… they RECEIVE benefits without paying for them. Suggesting more of the same is the definition of insanity, since what they have received so far has not worked.
  
  The government was supposed to create a SAFETY NET… not a tree house in which those who fail simply remain without expectation of going out and working again… By some estimates, those on the complete Federal dole are receiving $48,000 a year… that’s more than the median income where I live.
  
  And it’s YOUR President making noises about eliminating tax benefits for charitable contributions… Republicans ARE a generous people… they work in their communities and give to help those less fortunate… It’s a simple truth that the local food kitchen and the Salvation Army do a better job of moving those funds into the community and the people in need than the Federal government… Big Government kills jobs and wastes money that could be better spent on those in need. Period.
  
  You won’t make us feel bad… just sorry that you are so deeply indoctrinated.
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:26pm
  @bluehen
  “….but for a salaried employee such as myself that holds a management position within my firm, there is not lunch (hardly a lunch)….”
  
  Oh that’s rich !!! So busy at work you can’t even take a real lunch and yet you post on The Blaze all day long? You’re a funny troll….. LOL
  
  See you at 4:45 Etchy-Porky….
  
  Report this comment
- chezhockey
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 2:13pm
  @BLUE-A-HEN
  The Dems want to help less fortunate folks? Really?
  
  Who voted against the civil rights act? Democrats. Most of them.
  
  Who freed the slaves? Lincoln. A republican.
  
  Who keeps poor people poor by giving them endless hand-outs instead of a hand up like job training? Democrats.
  
  It’s about keeping power. Keep the uneducated masses poor and uneducated and give them more and more handouts paid for by the educated who work their proverbial buts off. That makes them “beholdin to ya”, and keeps them voting for you. Forget the fact that as the number of “takers” increases and the number of “payers” decreases, the ratio gets worse and worse, until there aren’t enough “payers” to support the “takers”. Get it? Can’t get blood from a stone…unless you’re a Democrat…
  
  Is that simple enough for you? Dispute those facts, I dare you.
  
  And please, don’t quote MSNBC. That ship has passed…
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 3:31pm
  C’mon there blue! Is that all you got you pipsqueak? “Come correct at me or don’t come at all.” WHAT? What the hell is that supposed to mean! Your whole response sounds like a fourth grader wrote it! I don’t believe a thing you say, and I have a feeling that your the one taking advantage of the unemployment benefits we evil GOP want to do away with.
  
  Report this comment
- bluehen
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 3:55pm
  @ZIPIT
  
  You honestly don’t know what that phrase means? LOL, why I am not surprised that your level of education only goes through the 9th grade and reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit. If you would like for me to explain it to you slower, no problem here. Let me just finish my day job, go to the gym, eat my dinner that has been prepared for me and sit down at my home office computer. If you are still on at around 10 EST or so, I will be available for help. You certainly wouldn’t be the first person that I had to tutor.
  
  Report this comment
- chezhockey
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 4:05pm
  Funny how when Blew-a-hen is presented with cold, hard indisputable facts, she keeps her beak shut.
  
  I thought demon-crats had an answer for everything, regardless of truth…
  
  Guess I was wrong…I HATE when that happens! LOL
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 4:52pm
  bluehen
  
  http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+fred+flintstone+5+oclock++work+whistle&mid=9E4697A57DDA87600BA99E4697A57DDA87600BA9&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 5:35pm
  Gimme the address to your gym there cream puff! I’ll be glad to show up their with a couple sets of gloves! We won’t need to wait till 10 to see who gets “tutored”! And Blue, who knew that Taco Bell delivered?
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 5:44pm
  Nice Monk! Don’t seem to remember too many days as a “salaried manager “in charge of the business that that I strolled in at nine and then conviently left at five!!! This guy’s a joke!
  
  Report this comment
bluehen
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:00pm
@AVENGERK

Nobody said roaring you child, only you did. As for your CNBC quote, I take what they say with a grain of salt. After all, they did have that tool Jack Welch on tv promoting his conspiracy theory that the jobs numbers were cooked..LOL.. I do agree that the economy isn’t doing that well, but I am only speaking for myself when I told the other moron to work hard. I did, and now I am doing great.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:25pm
  Oh I see…so all of a sudden…all this prosperity you claim for you and your friends is not quite as abundant after a little facts are thrown at you? Oh so the economy isn’t doing so well after all huh? You’re an idiot ETCHY/HEN.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:33pm
  How many years do you think Obozo needs to bring the economy back to even Bush’s peaks BLUECHICKEN? 8? 12? Shall we name him proconsul for life perhaps? Idiot.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:33pm
  Blue Hen,
  
  Averberrk is right.
  
  The unemployment rate is not a great indicator of the strength of the economy when the labor participation rate continue to climb.
  
  And more bad news
  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-27/retirement-dow-breaks-13000-wrong-way
  
  Oh and this same site has shown the correlation between Quantitative Easing & the stock market. they have also shown the diminishing returns with each succeeding QE. The stock market is no longer a good indicator of a healthy economy. It has become DECOUPLED like the U3 unemployment statistic has.
  
  People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981
  
  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/people-not-labor-force-soar-522000-labor-force-participation-rate-lowest-1981
  
  The LFPR graph in the article ends debate, but not the left’s hate.
  
  Report this comment
- doodad
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:51pm
  What K-Mart makes someone a department manager that writes like this: “there is not lunch (hardly a lunch) as a lunch hour, let alone clocking in and out. Soooo, good point?”
  
  What is your point there, dumb broad with a smock? Also, if you’re doing as well as you claim, then why don’t you take all the extra Monopoly money in your bank account, or “my portfolio” as you called it, and use it to fund the “poor” you love so much? “Spread the wealth,” dumb broad! I know, I know, “Socialism’s for THEE, not for ME,” right? You libt a r ds NEVER put your money where your shrill, simple-minded, hysterical mouths are, do you?
  
  And anyone that uses the Ricky Madcow blog as a “source” for her shrill hysteria, needs to be committed before she kills her children and claims Post-partem psychosis. Hell, anyone who’s a lib t a r d needs to be committed before the go on a mass killing spree again!
  
  Report this comment
cemerius
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:54am
It’s a GREAT feeling to be FREE!! My rose colored glasses are off and that lets me read this article the following way: “blah blah blah blah have a ham sandwhich” So many holes in this article that it is just another “puff piece”!! First and foremost have we lost sight of Civics 101?? The House passes a Bill and sends it to the Senate to ratify it into a Law then the President gets to either Veto or NOT to Veto the Law……I have a short memory but longer than most and I do recall the House passing a bill up to the Senate back in August that answers sequestration AND the Bish tax cuts!!! Why has Harry Reid been silent on this? Better yet why have the lap dog media “giants” been silent?? Oh, there is an AGENDA you say??

Who is John Galt?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
brigott
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:10am
The number of weekly jobless claims HAS to start dropping.

There aren’t many of us left that still even have a job.

The number I’d rather see is the number of people each week going onto public assistance/welfare/etc.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
rpa1121
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:52am
In other news, the number of people on Social Security disability is at a record high. That sure helps in keeping the unemployment numbers low.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cbo-record-number-workers-disability-increase

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Sicialian Eyeball
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:29am
Yawn…….. Smoke and mirrors,baby. Stubbed my toe once and went to the doctor. Told him,I think I broke it. He wanted to cut my leg off at the knee. He said,My toe wont hurt anymore. Not exactly what I had in mind,just like the delusional thinking in DC. Fake job numbers and low paying fry boy wont feed your family.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
kadster01
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:06am
We’ve seen this exact same drop in the jobless numbers every year around when? The Christmas season! There is always seasonal hiring. Once that passes and everything returns to “normal,” then the numbers are adjusted to reflect reality, except for the fact that those who have given up looking for work will still be excluded, and that number is growing as well.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
noslave
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:02am
JOBS ARE PLENTIFUL,unfortunately they dont pay the money people with 99 weeks of paid obama vacation are willing to take??theres no incentave??you sit home relax obama pays most of your bills??if your also on food stamps,welfare,you get medical,dental,heating bills,etc. all paid for by the shmuks still working??when it hopefully goes back to 26 weeks most will accept work??

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Brooks
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:40am
  You are exactly right! I know several (formerly) conservative people who were laid off directly due to obama’s policies and regulations and they began collecting unemployment. Both were hard working, true conservatives but they bit the poison apple and WHAMO! When the “free” vacation recently ended, one asked “What am I going to do now??”. Fortunately, the years of being a conservative snapped her back to realitiy and she has secured a job, although it doesn’t pay nearly what she was accustomed to making nor does she have the same confidence and fortitude she once had. I see it and, thankfully, I am still employed. The govt. dole destroys a person’s self-confidence and pride – I’ve seen it 50% destroy a person I’ve known for over 20 years……disgraceful! And how many are struggling to survive on a dwindling govt. dole???? We’re in for a huge problem!
  
  Report this comment
Proverbs17-12NLT
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:55am
If you don’t have all the numbers you cannot report, unless you’re the democrat news slaves who manipulate and lie to it’s dumb down viewership of useless idiots.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:19am
  Ask SendtheMeteors. I bet they can give you an explanation of why it is okay & accurate to report vital statistics based on estimates. After all they are a big time troll that went to a lofty university & in all likelihood a paid troll to boot.
  They could say how statisticians frequently estimate, but she will not give a estimate on how good that estimate is. How robust the statistic is. Meteors might just be bright enough to talk in terms of confidence intervals. Well maybe not.
  
  If they gave a 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL, people would not be impressed. Because it would be so wide as to be useless.
  
  Report this comment
- iampraying4u
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:12am
  they lie a lot
  
  Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:47am
Real estate figures are as skewed as the unemployment rate. Prices MAY be up in SOME markets, but they’re still WAY BELOW what they should be had we sustained growth above the 1% RANGE for the last four years, preferably a good amount above 2% is

just my opinion…

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- hauschild
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:57am
  Yeah, that’s pretty much a sham. Everybody thinks the real estate market is back, but how could it possibly be back when real unemployment is well over 10%? Where’s the demand when people have no future other than 99 weeks of a guaranteed income?
  
  Then, after the communists cut out the mortgage interest deduction for the wealthy and realize that doesn’t generate much tax revenue, and then they come for the goose that lays the golden eggs (middle class) – who in their right mind is gonna purchase a house without being able to write off mortgage interest? Where’s the upside in keeping an asset that will barely appreciate but one which requires you to pay exorbitant property taxes and wear-n-tear upkeep??? It just doesn’t make any sense to purchase a house at this point, unless you’re loaded, or buy something cheap that you can pay off in 10 years.
  
  Report this comment
- chezhockey
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 4:19pm
  Actually, not an opinion, it’s a fact. You’re exactly right.
  
  My recently purchased home is 45% bigger than the one my parents sold several years ago in the same market before the big fall, and I paid $137,000 LESS for it than what they sold theirs for.
  
  Mine is brand new, gated community. Theirs was 25 years old, non-gated. Only thing they had I don’t was a pool, but I am on the water.
  
  Yup, Thank You, Barney Frank!!! Hate to say that I benefited from that door knocker’s blunders, but it’s true.
  
  Report this comment
ssbstspd
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:38am
I don’t believe anything that comes out of this federal administration. Everything coming out of this white house is deceitful and very misleading. They are crooks and they will do anything that needs to be done. Obama and crew already know that if caught they will either be hung after trail or sent to jail for the rest of their lives. Either way is an end game for them. That’s why they are stepping on the throttle and going full force towards undisputable power and tyranny.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- ssbstspd
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:45am
  And nevermind that the data makes no sence. This isn’t the first time they have done this. How could the jobless rate go down when you add 150,000 jobs but have 350,000 people filling applications for unemployment ( most likely just laid off or fired ). Also nevermind the fact that this is the Christmas season and we all know obama and crew love them part time low pay jobs. Right up his ally
  
  Report this comment
- jorskippy
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:17am
  You cannot believe anything coming out of Washington anymore. Lies, lies. lies. It is no longer “We the People”. We are just living in this country, no input on anything going on in this country.
  
  Report this comment
hauschild
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:30am
Never thought I’d live to see the day leftist propaganda would effect the majority of minds in this country. We have leaders that resort to Third World tactics – in America – and it works?!?!? It’s just mind-boggling when you really think about it.

Our country has become wealthy beyond belief, yet the product (citizen) has really taken a nosedive.

Good luck, all.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:54am
  As you know we are witnessing the willful destruction of capitalism and our constitution at the hands of a Marxist heathen.The so called media are just propagandists for the regime and anyone who listens to anything they have to ‘report’ should have their head examined. Remember the Marxist promised to fundamentally transform America and he’s doing it,soon we’ll be just another third world country and the Marxist will be happy with all his handiwork.
  
  Report this comment
DougHuffman
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:21am
I came across a new ‘blog, this morning, that featured, apropos, “When something online is free, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.” http://futureoftheinternet.org/blog

That is quite congruent with “Believe nothing that you read or hear without verifying it yourself unless it fits your preexisting worldview.” I often write “congruent with ones preexisting Weltanschauung,” but that’d go over the know-nothing blog-respondents here on DaBlasé.

Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and Guns and the Truth. God Bless Bitter Clingers, damn know-nothings, progressives.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- woodyee
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:03am
  This “know-nothing” Conservative would like to know what “Weltanschauung” is, and yes,
  
  “Good people ought to be armed as they will, with wits and Guns and the Truth. God Bless Bitter Clingers, [and] damn [know-nothing] progressives.”
  
  Report this comment
- DougHuffman
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 10:37am
  With respect, it is German calque for the American idiom/idiot-nym world-view. The Wikipedia article is quite long with lots of internal and external references. An external reference is to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which article burrows deep into self-reference, from which one will soon arrive at Kurt Gödel.
  
  Thanks for the question.
  
  Report this comment
- woodyee
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:06am
  Thank YOU for your kind and quick response, Doug!
  
  Report this comment
yougottabekidding
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:19am
That’s one way to bring the unemployment down! Run them out of UE benefits. So if we stop over paying for UE the unemployment would go down. Now that is definitely government logic and I agree with it!
So lets move the unemployment pay out back, the unemployment will go down to 5%, and the economy will explode!

OR WE CAN USE THE REAL NUMBERS!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
patriotsofworkingamerica
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:17am
Change? What change? Oh the change in the bottom of my lint filled pockets. Or maybe the change I’m now using from my little collection containers around my worthless house. When are Americans going to say enough is enough? These little catch phrases and media propaganda slight of hand maneuvers are the only change I’m feeling. We need to all gather on Capital Hill, preferably after the final inauguration of our reinvigorated fearless leader, and show these Marxists we are ready to proceed with impeachment. We have the right!!!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- BODYBAG
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:26am
  @PATRIOTSOFWORKINGAMERICA
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:17am
  When are Americans going to say enough is enough?
  ————————————–
  Been asking that very question myself.
  
  Report this comment
- bluehen
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:30am
  @PATRIOTSOFWORKINGAMERICA
  
  Just because you’re poor and lazy doesn’t mean that the economy isn’t improving and people are starting to become better off. Don’t be so mad bro, just work and you’ll become successful. Unless, you are living off of social security and medicare (gov’t run programs) and just want to whine about something.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:21am
  LOL…yes BLUEHEN..and you’re so wealthy, literate and successful that you choose to infest blog boards everyday.
  Economy improving champ? This is how I know you’re a liar…. As of September 2012, the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.3%, down from its previous estimate of 1.7 % growth. For all of 2011, the economy grew at just 1.8%.
  Let’s see..2012 1.3% and 2011 1.8%….
  And from CNBC..”"Personal income growth slowed considerably during the third quarter, increasing just 2.7 percent after growing 4 percent in the second quarter. The savings rate also slowed to 3.7 percent from 4 percent.” Oh yeah BLUECHICKEN…that’s a roaring economy you’re praising isn’t it?
  
  Report this comment
Glennda
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:15am
And the economy continues to improve. And more people are working. And the housing market is growing. And the conservatives wail and gnash their teeth, for all their efforts to derail the recovery are failing. Their hatred for America is no match for the patriotism and ingenuity of liberals.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Stoic one
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:19am
  Welcome to the BLAZE; GLENNDA.
  
  economy improving? Where?
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:21am
  Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha………bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
  WANGO/PANTS, That has to be the funniest thing that I have ever seen you post here! You should do stand up.
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:30am
  RJJ . . .You like that one? Wait, I got more . . . Gays will never be allowed to serve openly in the military. And they’ll certainly never be able to marry. Marijuana will never be legal. And there will NEVER be a black man in the White House.
  
  And we’re just getting warmed up.
  
  Report this comment
- Cavallo
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:32am
  Its sad when even Fascism doesn’t work for them, yet individuals like Glenda will rail and bang their heads against the wall to try to claim over and over again that a control, tyranny over liberty, and a fascist centrally controlled economy is the best way towards prosperity.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:33am
  I used to be naive to then I grew up and entered the Air Force. Your fraud president is presiding over the managed decline of America and when he’s finished with her you’ll have his permission to pronounce it Amerika,got it? Didn’t think so carry on in your delusion.
  
  Report this comment
- bluehen
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:34am
  @GLENNDA
  
  I totally agree with you. My condo has gone up in value, my portfolio has gone up in value CONSIDERABLY, I got a great bonus for my hard work etc etc etc.. Let the bitter conservatives whine all they want. I am doing better than I was last year, and the year before and the year before. And it isn’t just me, it is my whole circle of friends. They just can’t stand to see the left doing good by this country.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:38am
  WANGO Who told you we have a black president? You’ve been lied to boy because our dear leader is is in fact mulatto. Your ignorance on this issue is astonishing,you voted for the disaster and you don’t even know that about the disaster in chief?
  
  Report this comment
- chezhockey
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:47am
  More people are working??? Are you kidding me? Holy Jesus jumping on a pogo-stick, you really are drinking the Kool-aid, aren’t you!!!
  
  Take a look at the labor statistics from 2009 to 2012. Tell me, what was the size of the work force then as opposed to now? Huh?
  
  Go ahead, do the research. We’ll wait.
  
  I really hate to prove someone a liar… unless it’s a liberal smuck…
  
  Report this comment
- ABO
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:49am
  food stamps given to 47M people…1 out of 6 on some type of government assistance….hundreds of thousands leaving workforce because they cant find jobs….a debt of 16.4T…executive orders rampant….working around congress…ie epa and nlb…on and on and you think this is great stuff…you progressives are truly morons….
  
  Report this comment
- bluehen
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:55am
  @CHEZHOCKEY
  
  I will provide you with two links for your consumption. Now, if reading and understanding big words is a problem for you, then just skip to the second link. Let me know what you think.
  
  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
  
  http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2010/10/08/5257833-bikini-graph-of-jobs-goes-thoroughbred?lite
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:00am
  Hen, your killing me!!!! The Maddow blog. Bwaaaaaaaaa! That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! And the BLS report! You honestly didn’t waste your time on that thing did ya? You might want to get out of that condo of yours and get some fresh air! One very mediocre report and your puffin up your little Bluehen chest! When next weeks revisions come out, and once again the revision is in a downard trend, you’ll dismiss it and we won’t see you for a few days. As usuall!
  
  And WANG! What’s with this GLENNDA stuff! Maybe you should move down to the beach, and shack up with Bluehen in his “condo”!
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:10am
  LOL…..really BLUEHEN…let’s bust open the champagne..happy days are here again right?
  So…why hasn’t Obama made up for the jobs lost from the recession of 2008/2009? Bearing in mind of course that the recession officially ended in June 2009. Let’s see..he’s the first president to NOT make up the jobs lost from a recession in his first term. Additionally…November alone saw 350K people leave the workforce for lack of finding a job. Obama in fact presides over the largest under-employment numbers since WWII. That is it say…more people have either given up looking for work and left the workforce or have to take part time or home jobs for lack of full time employment.
  You’re an idiot and you insult every American that is hurting for Obama’s incompetence and hubris.
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:13am
  @bluehen
  
  Tick tock, tick tock….EtchASketch
  
  Your 5 pm deadline is approaching…. only 5 1/2 hours left.
  
  Now, don’t forget to take a nice lunch today. Hope you had a Merry Christmas !!!
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:17am
  PRONGPINCHER . . . I was talking once with Rachel Robinson. She’s the widow of Jackie Robinson, first black man to play professional baseball. We were talking about Tiger Woods and his role as the first black golfer to be ranked #1 in the world. I mentioned that Tiger wasn’t black but actually a mix. She said to me, “Honey, there’s no such thing as a little bit black. Not in this country.”
  
  Now, I know you live to try and prove people wrong. But you’d have to dig pretty deep to find somebody who isn’t aware of Obama’s racial background. But that’s not really the point. The point is I put a lot more stock (and respect) into the opinion of Rachel Robinson – a woman who has actually lived and struggled and overcome enough things in life to become wise and fair – than I do the bitter ramblings of a disaffected old bigot.
  
  So, that’s my story for the day. How about one of yours? Maybe you can regale us with the time you saw George Wallace stopped in at the gas station where you worked to fill up his Plymouth Fury.
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:21am
  BLUEHEN . . . Yep, but you won’t find people around here enjoying the same success. They actually prefer failure. They continue to live paycheck to paycheck and so they have to find somebody – anybody – to blame. They certainly won’t take any responsibility for their lot in life. Most of these Blazers are on some form of government program – food stamps, unemployment, disability, SSI, Medicaid, government pension. It’s part of their inherent hypocrisy – all based out of guilt and regret. You now, conservatism.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:26am
  LOL…yes very good GLENNDA/PANTLOADIAN/WANGO/HORSEDANCER…I’ll file your little “black cred” story under “More tales of PANTY’s imaginary life” along with that story you made up of your life as a bell hop where you got upset by the “Bain Boys” who didn’t shower you with adoration and gratutities for merely taking their baggage to their rooms. Remembering of course that all this takes place in your befuddled mind alone.
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:28am
  AVENGECAKE . . .
  
  “So…why hasn’t Obama made up for the jobs lost from the recession of 2008/2009?”
  
  He has . . . In the Bureau of Labor Statistics report issued in October . . . BLS figures show that the U.S. economy now has 194,000 more jobs than it did in January 2009.
  
  And actually, the recession “officially” began in December 2007.
  
  Facts, they ain’t just things you hear on Fox News. And they;re not just the random misdirected firing of that one neuron in your brain. Facts are interesting and provocative . . .and hence beyond your grasp.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:30am
  By the way BLUECHICKEN/ETCHY….a Ralph Maddow blog? Really? LOL. Couldn’t you also provide a Bill Maher and a Keith Olberman one too? Let me guess..you get your news from The Daily Show right? LOL.
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:30am
  Avenjerk! It doesn’t matter to the Hen! He’s in his own little world. He’s doing well, therefore everything else must be alright. It’s the typical liberal response that, “if something is not personally affecting me, then what does it matter?”. It is his inattention to how things are indirectly affecting his life, that will come around to bite him in the arse! Sooner or later!
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:33am
  AVENGECAKE . . . If only you’d left your hometown when you had the chance. If only you hadn’t stayed home to take care of momma who just couldn’t bare to have you leave. If only you’d married Peggy Sue. Sure, she could eat an apple through a picket fence, but she was sweet and had big hips good for baby making. But no, you stayed with momma, living to this day in the house where you were born. Of course, momma’s in the ground now and there’s nothing but you and that old hose that’s falling down around you. But fear not. It’s not to late. You can still have a real life genuine experience with real live living people. I suggest Thailand.
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:43am
  Hey WANGO! The insurance company noticed that your reading skills have improved! They want to know if you’ll be signing a new policy?
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 11:44am
  @Glennda/Pants/Wango/HorseDancer,
  
  I feel your pain Glennda/Pants/Wango/Horse-Dancer. I’ve counseled many people with the same issues that you have. No place to go where you have friends to play with; hanging around with people you loathe and changing your name all the time because you’re ashamed of your past. What happened to your friends? Yep, that’s what I thought. Don’t worry though; we all love you and pray for you every day. We know you have a kind heart that’s just been hardened by your liberal friends that now shun you for wanting to be such a main player on Glenn Beck’s wonderful website. We all know you are here because deep inside you WANT to change and all your posts are really just cries for help. By wearing diapers in your last avatar you were telling us that you are really just a baby who needs changing. You’ll change. Just keep on going to this website every day and every night. And don’t forget that WE ALL LOVE YOU and GOD LOVES YOU too.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:18pm
  LOL…you cretin GLENNDA/HORSIE/PANTY/WANGO…..More jobs than January 2009 is reflecting the smaller workforce number in January 2009, not the total number of jobs lost during that recession. Savvy?
  Obama still has a deficit of jobs lost from 2008/2009. Total employment as of November 2012 was still 3.2 million jobs under the peak just before the recession started, OVER FOUR YEARS AGO! Obama hasn’t grown any economy, he’s atrophied it. Historically..the deeper the recession the more pronounced the recovery is but under Obama that’s not the case.
  
  You don’t grow an economy by having more people leave the workforce than are entering it. Is this just too much for you to grasp little guy? In November 2012, 350,000 Americans dropped out of the labor force, bringing the total dropping out since Obama took office to 5.4 million, while only 146,000 claimed looking for work. Let’s see…350K drop out of the workforce in one month..while 146K are looking for work.
  
  This is an improved economy to you is it PANTY/WANGO/HORSIE/GLENNDA?
  
  You clownshoes is this really too difficult for you to process in that befuddled, fantasy prone mind of yours?
  
  Go back to making up stories of your life as a bell hop and your “black cred”..because clearly your lies and fantasies are more “provocative and interesting” to a creepy lefty troll like you than the facts are. Dullard.
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:24pm
  DUH MONK . . . Counselor, eh? That explains Aurora and Columbine and Newtown and William Spengler. Maybe you should find a new line of work. Something a little less dangerous to humanity. Also, I want to thank you, because now I’ll be pointing out the decidedly un-counselor like thoughts and emotional inconsistencies that leak out of you with such alarming regularity.
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:42pm
  AVENGECAKE . . .my dear little quasi-educated, almost-informed, willfully obtuse pusher of right wing mythology. You’re so darn cute. love it when you get all riled up and start googling. Next time google terms like “net” and “percentage.” I think you’ll find them illuminating when it comes to your specious argument. You’re an apples and oranges kind of guy, but see if you can fathom this fact: In the year following Obama’s inauguration, the U.S. economy lost about 4.3 million jobs, but 4.4 million jobs have been added back since then. As for “the peak” . . .well, Bush lost 2.5 million jobs between Labor Day 2008 and inauguration day. Another 1.5 million were shed the first 60 days of Obama’s administration, which are clearly the lingering impact of the previous administration’s policies.
  
  Just be patient. It’s going to take us just a bit longer to fix the monstrous mess you conservatives created. But we’ll get there, without your help.
  
  Report this comment
- chezhockey
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:47pm
  @bluehen
  Like I said, drinking the Kool-aid.
  Now, go back and answer the question I actually asked. I’ll refresh your obviously deficient short term memory. “Take a look at the labor statistics from 2009 to 2012. Tell me, what was the size of the work force then as opposed to now? Huh?”
  
  Your attempt to avoid the actual question with the BLS statistics you point to DOES NOT answer the question, as it does not take into account those who have stopped looking for work, those working part time who are looking for full time jobs, or those who are still looking, but whose unemployment benefits have run out. It’s a BS number that does not take ACTUAL jobless numbers into account.
  
  Take a look at the U6 rate, which is much more honest and correct, as it DOES take those numbers into account. it’s not “estimated”, as the current rate is in 19 states (a “high” number of estimations by about 15 or 16…gee, I wonder why they estimated so many states the last few months, huh? Maybe an election? perhaps the coming fiscal cliff? Naw…couldn’t be, right? Most open president in history? Right. More Kool-aid to drink) It’s 14.4% right now, up from 8.8% when your buddy Oh-bummer took office.
  
  So, I say again, Numbers? Workforce now to workforce then. Give me the numbers. Again, I’ll wait for a truthful answer, but I won’t hold my breath. You won’t quote them, because it proves you’re untruthful.
  BTW linking to ANYTHING on PMSNBC (MSNBC for the Kool-aid crowd) proves y
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 12:59pm
  Well of course you’ll file MONK’s words away for later use WANGO/PANTY/HORSIE/GLENNDUH…your entire presence here is based in spite, malice and hatred. MONK read you like a book little fella and it looks like he got a little too close to the bone this time.
  Will you be creating a new screenname to MONK with?
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:11pm
  Yeah ummmm once again GLENNDUH/WANGO/PANTY/HORSE/ad nauseum…because you can’t understand what’s presented to you….Obama is still at a deficit of jobs lost from the recession. The BLS numbers you’re attempting to twist and mangle into appearing as if Obama’s added actual jobs count the increase in part time and home jobs which reflect the record high under-employment rate under Obama. This is not an indicator of healthy job growth at all. Obama has not added any “net” jobs to the economy because he’s still at least THREE MILLION in the hole under Bush’s peak. In fact, Obama’s been bleeding jobs for four years. GDP has been catatonic.
  Now…stop pretending to be a bell hop and understand what’s presented to you little cretin…In November of 2012, THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND Americans dropped out of the work force while only ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE attempted to enter it. This has been the pattern throughout Obama’s disastrous tenure.
  I suggest you create yet another screenname for yourself little troll because clearly GLENNDUH is a complete cretin.
  
  Report this comment
- chezhockey
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:33pm
  Since my post was cut off, I’ll finish…
  
  Quoting MSNBC on anything political is like quoting Barney Frank on male/female sexuality. What with male personalities getting a “thrill up their legs” (sic) over O’Bummer and all, you just can’t do anything but laugh at them…
  
  Someone once said, “Those who quote morons prove themselves to be ABJECT morons…”
  
  Who was that???
  
  Oh yeah, it was me. Damn, I’m good…
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 1:59pm
  LOL…oh that’s hysterical GLENNDUH/WANGO/PANTY/HORSIE…”no one can take you seriously” coming from a lefty troll who needs to constantly create new screennames for himself and creates fantasies about his life as an imaginary bell hop. Do you even grasp the idiocy in your posts HORSIE/PANTY/WANGO/GLENNDUH/ad nauseum? LOL.
  
  Yes..let’s take a lefty troll seriously who’s entire purpose for coming to these these boards is to hurl drive-by insults and which he does through a weird compulsion to post under different names and telling fabricated stories about himself. Would YOU take you seriously PANTYGLENNDUH? LOL.
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 2:55pm
  GLENNDUH/PANTY/WANGO/HORSIE…I see you got your post removed…let me guess… you’re blocked again and your obsession with posting here will compell you to create yet another screenname for yourself? LOL. Are you really that unteachable champ?
  
  Report this comment
- Glennda
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 3:55pm
  AVENGECAKE . . . not before you saw – and filed – it . . . heh heh heh
  
  GLENNDA: I think, I think I am, therefore I am, I think.
  
  AVENGECAKE: Of course you are my bright little star,
  I’ve miles
  And miles
  Of files
  Pretty files of your forefathers fruit
  And now to suit our
  Great computer,
  Youre magnetic ink.
  
  GLENNDA: I’m more than that, I know I am, at least, I think I must be.
  
  GOD: There you go man, keep as cool as you can.
  Face piles
  Of trials
  With smiles.
  It riles them to believe
  That you perceive
  The web they weave
  And keep on thinking free.
  
  Report this comment
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:14am
.
There are no jobs….This once great country has been Doomed by the Free Lunch Crowd……….

Sad thing is there are not enough of the rest of us left to save her…….

And the Band Played on……..

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Hausmaus
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:11am
Remember when one was one, and two was two, now one is minus ten thousand, and two is minus one million. Start getting used to the new math pronto because it is here to stay.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Stoic one
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:07am
350,000 new apps for unemployment are offset by 151,000 new jobs; and this slowly improves the economy?

I must need to take a course in economics to understand this stuff because it is obvious that simple arithmetic will not cover this……..

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:19am
  Remember Dr Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park?
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zEjWK4EUiE
  
  Report this comment
bannedfromCNN
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:06am
Welcome to the new reality of Obamaville.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
progressiveslayer
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:06am
The government might estimate one or two states in a typical week, but 19 state estimates are unusually high. I wonder why the government would estimate 19 states? They wouldn’t dream of creating a smoke screen to make the unemployment picture look rosy now would they? Of course they would it’s government and lying and deceit are two qualities the government are in ample supply of.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:02am
Translation – once again we are seeing the smoke and mirrors routine of the administration; what are the hard numbers and how long until people finally see the truth of all these illusions crafted by Obama and his cronies.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
ABO
Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:02am
blah blah blah blah…does anyone believe any of this crap any more?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RamonPreston
  Posted on December 27, 2012 at 9:50pm
  Got to the point I don’t believe ANYTHING our government says.
  
  Report this comment

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.