US

Up, Up, and Away: Jobless Claims Hit 8-Month High

Up, Up, and Away: Jobless Claims Hit 8 Month HighWASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits surged last week to the highest level in eight months, a troubling sign a day ahead of the government’s report on April employment.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the 43,000 spike in applications to a seasonally adjusted 474,000 last week was largely the result of unusual factors, including a high number of school systems in New York that closed for spring break.

Still, it marked the third increase in four weeks. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose for the fourth straight week to 431,250. Applications have jumped 89,000, or 23 percent, in the past four weeks.

“The trend is clearly upward, so that’s disconcerting,” said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist for Swiss Re. “When you get three or four weeks in a row of special factors, they’re no longer so special.”

Applications near 375,000 are typically consistent with sustainable job growth. Weekly applications peaked during the recession at 659,000.

Rising unemployment applications and other weak economic data this week have prompted some analysts to worry that higher fuel prices may be causing employers to slow their pace of hiring.

The government is scheduled to release its April jobs report on Friday. Economists are projecting that the economy likely added 185,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate may remain 8.8 percent, but some are now saying the numbers could be lower. Thursday‘s report also doesn’t bode well for hiring in May, economists said.

A Labor Department spokesman blamed much of the latest increase on the unexpected spike caused by New York schools. That resulted in 25,000 layoffs. The department didn’t anticipate the closures when making seasonal adjustments, the spokesman said. The employees affected were bus drives and cafeteria workers, not teachers.

One economists was skeptical that school recesses, presumably that have been on the calendar all year, would be difficult to account for.

“Whatever school holidays may have occurred in New York were most likely associated with the Easter and Passover holidays, which should not have come as a surprise to those who calculated the seasonal adjustment factors for this year,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc.

Other factors also contributed to the increase, the Labor spokesman said. Oregon launched its own extended unemployment benefit program, which caused an increase in overall applications in the state for unemployment benefits.

And auto-related layoffs rose, Some companies have shut down or slowed production because of parts shortages stemming from the earthquake in Japan. Those disruptions are mostly affecting Japanese automakers with plants in the North America. Honda Motor Corp. has slowed production at 10 of its U.S. and Canadian plants. Toyota has cut its U.S. production by two-thirds. Both have said they aren’t laying off workers. But the slowdowns also affect auto-supply companies.

Still, applications have risen sharply in recent weeks, raising concerns that high gas and food prices are cutting into consumer spending and slowing the economy. Businesses are also facing higher costs for raw materials, which reduce profit margins. They may be cutting back on hiring as a cost-saving measure.

The national average for gas was $3.99 a gallon on Thursday, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge. That is 30 cents higher than a month earlier.

Other recent data have also pointed to a weaker job market. A private trade group said Wednesday that a measure of employment growth in the service sector, which employs 90 percent of the work force, slowed for the second straight month. The report, by the Institute for Supply Management, still showed that employment rose, but at the slowest pace in 7 months.

The number of people continuing to receive benefits rose 74,000 to 3.7 million. Millions more unemployed are receiving aid from extended benefit programs put in place during the recession. All told, more than 8 million people received unemployment benefits for the week ending April 16, the most recent data available. That was 170,000 fewer than the previous week.

Comments (100)

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  • dfestoon
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:55am

    Does anyone really think that rising fuel costs are not a major contributor to these figures? Gas is up $1.00 a gallon, home heating oil is up the same amount, basic food staples are all up. Where does this money come from? It comes from the dollars spent in small businesses by consumers. The dollar is worthless, the Gov’t is siphoning off all income and driving us into a third world country.

    Report Post »  
  • Gr8ful1jim
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:47am

    And they don’t even consider those who have exhausted their benefits and are still unemployed. The REAL FIGURES would be staggering!

    Report Post » Gr8ful1jim  
  • cntrlfrk
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:46am

    Will we survive another 2 years and another campaign with Obama’s Class Warfare and War on Prosperity??

    .

    Report Post » cntrlfrk  
  • Pipestr
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:33am

    OK wait – did I reqad this right ? ” factors, including a high number of school systems in New York that closed for spring break” ?????

    Since when do teachers draw unemployment during spring break?

    Do they REALLY expect us to believe that crap?

    Report Post »  
  • lynnissmart
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:32am

    He won’t fix anything. His goal is to destroy Capitalism…..I hope everyone who suffers under his rule, votes him out!

    Report Post »  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 12:17pm

      He is relying on the welfare class and the entitlement class to vote him back in, why else would he perpetuate the class warfare?

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
  • jim
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:28am

    Another mile stone in the Obama era… his campaign to dismantle capitalism and replace it with Marxism rolls on. Joblessness climbs out of sight… cost of living doubles under his regime… government control of our economy edges upward of 40%. GDP is under 2% perpetually. The dollar is at its lowest point in decades. The sucking sound you hear is the American Dream breathing its last…

    Report Post » jim  
  • h20sue
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:20am

    Obama and the dems are trying to make people believe things are getting better.
    As a small business owner, I am telling you….THEY AREN’T.
    Sales have been down since 2008. Customers who used to pay within 30 days are paying in access of 120 plus. Why? Because their sales are down too! Obama has done nothing to help us, and there are so many scams everyone is scared to do business with anyone. We certainly do not want to do business with Chase, Bank of American or others. They are forcing small businesses into bankruptcies. Obama is too busy taking credit for Obama, running around the country, and his butt should be parked in the Oval Office 24/7 until the economy improves. The last place he needs to be today is at Ground Zero. G.W. Bush should have been flown there, not Obama. The Seals should be given 100% credit for the Bin Laden hit, because Obama just watched. He doesn’t need to be parading around NY. It’s okay, as “we the people” are watching. Shaking hands with families who lost loved ones is not taking care of the economy. Some of us, who lost family and friends would rather he be in the Oval Office working to fix the debt! Shaking hands with us is not curing what needs to be done.

    Report Post »  
  • ottknot
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:10am

    We, as American’s I fear are past the point at which we can save ourselves. Too greedy, to self important and far to entitled. An example. Ive recently relocated from the unionized north to the right to work south in order to find employment. I recently had a conversation with a fellow north easterner who had done the same. He spent 20 minutes bragging about how, as a union negotiator, he had won all of the benefit packages, payed days off and wage increases for his brothers in the union. He was lamenting the fact that the company he worked for had gone out of business, and he had been forced to move south in order to find work. Complained that he only got 11 paid holiday days a year and 2 weeks of vacation. He’s a 55 year old man and he never made the connection on his own. He’s actually hoping for card check, and an end to right to work so he can try to unionize here and receive some of the same perks as his previous job. When I insinuated that the perks and benefits might be why his old company is no longer in business, and stated that if the unions were able to overcome the right to work laws those jobs would leave the united states altogether he left. We have become a people that feel entitled, someone owes us and they had better pay.

    Report Post »  
    • lynnissmart
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:21am

      No surprise here, while Obamie the Commie is struting around New York….(he’s such a fake, I hope one of the 9/11 famalies tell him off!!….but no such thing will happen because these people have probably been told as to what they can an can’t say. I despise his very commie attitude.

      Report Post »  
  • trooper
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:07am

    The way it looks, Old Glenn is batting a 1000, as he is, by far the only honest man, with true American spirit behind a voice, I have heard in my life, I am kind of old, so I can say this as a “credible witness”!

    Report Post »  
  • bandi9
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:06am

    we are flatlining! CLEAR!!

    Report Post »  
  • Evileye
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:01am

    Some one should make a graph and watch Unemployment and the price of fuel.
    They will follow the same curve.
    (when you cant afford to drive to work blame it on the white house jerk)

    Report Post »  
  • eat-more-bacon-USA
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:01am

    Will Barry be taking credit for this too, during his campaign speech at Ground Zero today?

    Report Post » eat-more-bacon-USA  
  • Cryptoportico
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:00am

    Sooooo, yea, I mean we are in a recovery, right? Ummmm, I want to be clear, uhhh, we have a long way to go… and I uhhh, don’t want to spike the football…

    http://www.cryptoportico.com
    http://www.facebook.com/Socialist.Indoctrination

    Report Post » www.Cryptoportico.com  
  • trooper
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:59am

    Who could imagine three years ago that this would be happening? Answer: Glenn Beck!

    Report Post »  
  • ottknot
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:58am

    Add your comments

    Report Post »  
  • bharris0
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:58am

    Ahhhh, the fruits of socialism. High unemployment, high taxes and high inflation. The stupid never learn.

    How is that hopey changy thing working out for you ?

    Report Post »  
  • TRONINTHEMORNING
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:56am

    But, but, but Obama got Usama. Let’s not worry about the little things like the American economy.

    Report Post »  
  • axel@25
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:53am

    I had NO IDEA that someone could apply for unemployment benefits while they were on vacation for a week over EASTER (NY teachers)…or, for that matter, that Easter came as such a surprise to the labor Dept. this year

    Report Post »  
    • Mateytwo Barreett
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 2:23pm

      My thoughts exactly! Only the federal government would be surprised by Easter occuring in the spring. . . Or that public schools in the USA would dare “celebrate” with a vacation. And Oh, yeah, lets file for unemployment for 1 week, while under contract!!!
      So if we NEED the unemployment to go down . .How many more jobs do we have to take out of the market? Nah, a little early yet. Better to let itt rise just over 9 for the next 4 months. Then set the autopilot on a glide path to Aug.- Sept Sept. 2012! Meanwhile, we got ahother 14-15 months of pilaging to do.

      Report Post » Mateytwo Barreett  
    • TopOfTheMuffin2u
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 6:16pm

      I thought the same thing when I read the article. NO they do not collect unemployment.

      Report Post »  
  • aTallMaple
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:47am

    That is the only way life will ever be fair, put us all out of work and dependent on on the government.

    Report Post »  
    • hillbillyinny
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:51am

      Put us all out of work and the government will have nothing for which to be depended on!

      Report Post »  
    • aTallMaple
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:17am

      Getting us all out of work is just the first step, then once everyone is on the dole -the rationing starts. Once it becomes apparent that there is not enough food, we can single out a particular group or two of “bad” people and take them on long train rides to special spas with nice warm showers.

      Report Post »  
  • Cartooner
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

    These numbers were tabulated BEFORE Obama got Osama…things will get better now that the Commander-in-Chief trained and lead Navy SEALS into Pakistan and bagged Bin Laden!

    Report Post » Cartooner  
    • teachermitch32
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:09am

      Can you do a cartoon for that one? Seriously….if there was a time that was ever ripe for conservative political satire (cartoonists) it is now.

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:46am

      ROFLmao

      Report Post »  
  • An AmericanMom
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

    And another wonderul mark on Obama’s resume! NOT!!!!!

    Report Post » An AmericanMom  
  • NOTAMUSHROOM
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:40am

    Now the government will have more people to take care of………as planned.

    Report Post »  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:48am

      I’m not sure how many more I can afford to support.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:05am

      Kate we can always opt-out of paying taxes to support welfare programs…All it takes is a radifacation of the 16th amendment. It can be done the 21st radified the 18th.
      We could change the course and the additude of the nation with one fell swoop.

      Report Post »  
  • NOTAMUSHROOM
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:38am

    Well, well, well. What a surprise.

    Report Post »  
  • NOBALONEY
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:37am

    I want to see how the Obama administration spins these numbers.

    Report Post » NOBALONEY  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

      Bush’s fault …

      Report Post »  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:00am

      It took 8 years of Bush to get us here you acn’t expect Obama to turn it around in 20 short years…lol
      That would be the liberal/progressive/socialist/whatever spin if Obama was still President in 17 years.

      Report Post »  
    • LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:11am

      @ CatB… and why not blame Bush for contributing to this mess ?
      he came into Office with a surplus. got us into two wars without a plan to pay for them .
      and Yippy Tax breaks for everyone. and Created ZERO jobs….
      I can remember BEFORE the 2008 election. and after the Stock Market Crashed. Unemployment @ 700′ 000 per month. GM ( a great American company ) going Bankrupted.
      And I said to myself … Who the he!! would want the Job as President .. and do you think that McCain would have fixed this mess ??? guess we will never Know

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:37am

      I’m no Bush fan .. he was way to much of a Progressive in fiscal matters but OBAMA HAS ONLY MADE MATTERS WORSE! To now blame Bush for all this is wrong .. OBAMA is doing and getting exactly what he wants .. to destroy the American economy and America itself.

      When Obama and Co. blame Bush — Obama looks even smaller — the man-child that he is.

      Report Post »  
    • drattastic
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:44am

      This is an easy fix ,just further tweak how we calculate unemployment. Uninformed idiots will believe anything the media tell them.Perception is reality.

      Report Post » drattastic  
    • Untameable-kate
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:45am

      No kidding, how dared Bush go attack the innocent people who killed thousands of civillians on 9/11 and many countless othere before and since that. Before we had a democrat controlled congress the unemployment rate stayed around four and a half percent. Clinton benefited by having a republican congress who kept him in check. BO has driven the national debt way higher than ANY president before him, has grown the government bigger and has acted like his ‘Obama stash’ is bottomless. Go drink your kool-aid.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 12:48pm

      looking both ways,
      Clinton didn’t leave anyone a surplus HE LEFT A LAUNDRY LIST OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING OFF THE BUDGET
      http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/08/25/article/clinton_didn_t_balance_the_federal_budget
      http://www.craigsteiner.us/articles/16
      If you look at Clinton‘s numbers prior to the Republican’s taking over both houses and pushing the contract for America he was about 80 billion a year higher which was about 30% of the budget.
      but why let fact get in the way of your fantasy

      Report Post »  
    • Blackhawk1
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 2:07pm

      I always like using FACTS when liberals try to claim Clinton left a surplus. Here are the cold hard facts.

      The last seven years that the Democrats have controlled both houses of Congress are 1992 to 1995, and 2008 to 2010. The last seven years that the Republicans have controlled both houses are 1999 to 2001, and 2004 to 2007. During the most recent seven years that the Democrats have controlled Congress, their deficits have averaged $619 billion a year, or 5.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP). During the most recent seven years that the Republicans have controlled Congress, their deficits have averaged $93 billion a year, or 0.6% of GDP. Over their entire seven-year spans, the Democrats’ deficit spending has totaled $4.3 trillion, the Republicans’ $651 billion. Over the 14 years in question, the four highest deficits as a percentage of GDP have all occurred when the Democrats have controlled Congress. The five lowest have all occurred when the Republicans have controlled Congress.

      Report Post » Blackhawk1  
    • LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 5:10pm

      wow some of you need help in reading comprehension ( as I do in spelling )
      i SAID …and why not blame Bush for contributing to this mess ? key word CONTRIBUTING !!

      btw Katie i don’t like kool-aid .. i like my coffee just like my women .. lite and sweet
      so that leaves you out lol

      Report Post »  
  • I.Gaspar
    Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:37am

    back to reality….

    Report Post »  
    • Gold Coin & Economic News
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:39am

      Oh wait, I thought we were in recovery.

      Report Post » Gold Coin & Economic News  
    • bry
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:41am

      No, we are still in the operating room, and things do not look good. Maybe we will get some life support in 2012. Pray.

      Report Post » bry  
    • MidWestMom
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

      “Recovery” is the Kool-Aid flavor of the month …….

      Report Post »  
    • chirodoc007
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

      Didn’t Soros say yesterday that he was selling his Silver and Gold because the danger of inflation and the devaluation of the dollar was over?

      Oh Nooooooooo!

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

      Obama is doing a HECK OF A JOB …. that is if you want to destroy the country …. Come on 2012! God help us until then and beyond!

      Report Post »  
    • nacilbuper
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:46am

      Now who do we have to kill to get rid of this story?

      Report Post » nacilbuper  
    • Obama Snake Oil Co
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:47am

      More hope and change while I “believe”….yeah, gas prices will be $5 by summer. That Obamagas is expensive. And what a good way to distribute my wealth to other countries…even the poor feel this tax. So Oblamabush pur a moritorium on drilling in the US to force us to buy oil from other countries. How ingenious a marxist he is. I guess Soros told him to do this. So you Obama supporters, how is that hope and change working for you? Did you vote for a pay cut? Oh, and those food prices….pay cut….man, you guys got it going on. Well, I gotta go…my Suburban needs a fillup on hope and change….

      Report Post » Obama Snake Oil Co  
    • LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:47am

      We might as well face it. we are in a “Depression” so far our safety nets that we established since the last Depression has kept many people above water, ( not so for many other people ) But we are about to sink !!!!………..good luck people.

      Report Post »  
    • Cptnjarhead
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:48am

      why are we talking about this silly stuff, lets talk more about the OBL pictures.
      Gas in my area is $4.29 and when it gets to $5 nobody is going to care about OBL, even if Obama had killed him with his bare hands.

      Report Post »  
    • lovenfl3
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:52am

      They have been fudging the numbers since the guy got in office. You can only do that for so long. But who needs a job now that Bin Laden’s dead? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCUYPR00D5A

      Report Post » lovenfl3  
    • Finch88
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:57am

      I can see this I am unemployed…

      http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos

      Report Post »  
    • No1YaKnow
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:58am

      Due to spring break? Nonsense. Hope and Change is the cause.

      Report Post » Marci  
    • hauschild
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:01am

      I was talking with somebody last nite about how this is certainly a strange time we live in. I can’t ever remember being in a recession with high unemployment, and most people – including the unemployed – not really caring. So little, in fact, that business is still looked at as the enemy. I mean how utterly moronic are many of the people in this country?

      I mean, it’s so easy to fix unemployment in America, but progressives and liberals continue to want to try their bankrupt experiments of achieving utopia, doing it their way. All it does is destroy some of our fellow Americans lives by either reducing what they might have achieved, or making them dependent on government.

      So, it leaves me without a doubt that the people who in this case “do not care”, are either embracing the collapse of America as we have come to know it, or are fine with it. Either way, it is un-American.

      Report Post »  
    • QC Ghost
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:09am

      When some folks are out of work, they turn mean. This is a sample of animal cruelty at its worst. Animal lovers should NOT click on this link:

      http://qcghost.blogspot.com/2011/05/animal-cruelty.html

      Report Post »  
    • 48
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:32am

      Obama better hope this changes because blowing OBL’s head off isnt even going to help him in 2012 if it doent.

      Report Post »  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:41am

      So we continue to see the distorted and detatched reality of the administration and the DC logic loop; they are unable or unwilling to handle the truth. And then they wonder why so many people of the land are so mad with them and do not believe them in any way.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Blackhawk1
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 1:52pm

      So are they really saying that teachers in New York are allowed to file for unemployment during spring break? Just another reason to get rid of public employee unions.

      Report Post » Blackhawk1  
    • the_zazzy
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 1:57pm

      Up is the new down…haven’t you heard?

      Report Post » the_zazzy  
    • ThatsRight
      Posted on May 5, 2011 at 4:13pm

      Anyone Surpised? Maybe some more QE will do.

      Report Post »  
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