Unemployment remains at 10.0%; Update: “Unexpectedly”
posted at 8:54 am on January 8, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Last month’s surprisingly sunny report on losses did not hold, and the US remains in double-digit unemployment:
Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-85,000) in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.
In December, both the number of unemployed persons, at 15.3 million, and the unemployment rate, at 10.0 percent, were unchanged. At the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons was 7.7 million, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent. …
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down in December (-85,000). Job losses continued in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs. During 2009, monthly job losses moderated substantially. Employment losses in the first quarter of 2009 averaged 691,000 per month, compared with an average loss of 69,000 per month in the fourth quarter.
The number of jobs lost rose significantly between November and December, although the unemployment rate held steady. In fact, the last paragraph shows a potential problem rolling into 2010. The average job losses in the fourth quarter were skewed by the unexpectedly small decline in November, leading people to think that the end was near for job loss and that net job growth may be close. Instead, December outpaced the entire quarter — in a season where retail usually adds positions.
The losses in construction and manufacturing give the greatest worry. Those industries have been in free fall for over a year, and the economic stimulus package supposedly addressed those specifically. There has been no jobs “saved or created” in those industries in numbers large enough to matter.
Update: This was predictable, but I figured AP would use it before Reuters:
U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, cooling optimism on the labor market’s recovery and keeping pressure on President Barack Obama to find ways to spur job growth.
“Unexpectedly.” It’s the word we’ve come to expect with every job report.
Blowback
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This is the most important piece of data from the report and most people are not even paying attention to it. 800,000 people gave up looking for a job and dropped out of the workforce in December. 800,000. Wow.
John9400 on January 8, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Oh gosh, I really failed at being a new ager. I am very close, however, to my own higher power.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Except when it comes to health insurance.
ProfessorMiao on January 8, 2010 at 11:02 AM
I thought President Obama has a jobs conference. Why are we still losing jobs?
BadgerHawk on January 8, 2010 at 11:02 AM
I didn’t know that. Looks like I jumped to the conclusion but now Ann has confirmed herself that it’s Texas (I don’t think Tennessee has any hurricane risk).
jwolf on January 8, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Ain’t it?
Used also in every other liberal/socialist failure.
maynila on January 8, 2010 at 11:03 AM
He’s pivoting so they can sneak the HealthScare bill through before Jan 19 Massatoochits election and the SOTU Lies!
As far as asking any questions of the Pinnochio I tend to think they will be along the lines of:
How was your much deserved Hawaiian Vacation?
How did you get so tan?
Is your friends daughter OK.
Did you shoot par while there?
Do you think the evil Republicans will be able to wrest control of the House or pick up 1 or 2 seats in the Senate?
How do you deal with the day to day distractions of a guy lighting his pants on fire, the Tea bagger thugs, and living with three girls and a dog.
dhunter on January 8, 2010 at 11:03 AM
I evolved over this debate. I really wanted public option, until I saw the actual debate unfold. It is too complicated.
By the end, I was really glad I voted McCain. He actually did offer the best solution, and it actually addressed my concerns.
We needed to deal with pre-existing conditions and the purging problem.
I think the GOP plan would have been better. What we will end up with is a mess.
But, that’s how it goes.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:04 AM
Texas! In fact, I now live within a few hundred miles of where I grew up in Arkansas.
Pretty neat.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Obviously all the nation’s employers are racists. Do you even need to ask?
jwolf on January 8, 2010 at 11:06 AM
I’ve been away from there for 20+ years, and that’s what everybody called it from then and before. Westlake was the upscale place to live; Newbury Park, not so much. But it was all the Conejo Valley. Conejo is Spanish for rabbit.
Crusader Rabbit on January 8, 2010 at 11:06 AM
The Census is gearing up for hiring up to 1.2 million temps. Anyone know how that is going to affect the unemployment numbers?
GnuBreed on January 8, 2010 at 11:06 AM
Not a direct strike, no, but we will get the leftovers when they move inland.
ladyingray on January 8, 2010 at 11:06 AM
Aren’t “unexpectedly” and “unprecedented” mutually exclusive?
connertown on January 8, 2010 at 11:07 AM
Just my own ignorance here. Heck, my son attended Las Virgenes schools. I lived in Calabasas for a few years.
CA was like that for me, though. It was so different that even after living there over 25 years, I wasn’t a native.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:08 AM
I have a question about age and reporting unemployment.
I know someone who on 30Dec was laid off who is 66. Unemployment benefits in Arizona are half of Illinois so I am not sure if she will go the unemployment route and then Social Security or go straight to Social Security or if she is ineligible for SS because of her salary last year. With some medical issues I am not sure how successful she will be in her job hunt.
How many of the unreported/underreported fit this description?
journeyintothewhirlwind on January 8, 2010 at 11:08 AM
I know someone in the Galveston Bay area that’s selling a high-end publication local to that area, if you’re interested in getting into that kind of business. Would be happy to introduce you to her.
Midas on January 8, 2010 at 11:09 AM
Please!
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:12 AM
That’s a smart girl!
Please accept my sincerest apologies for the way I may have acted towards you in the past.
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 11:13 AM
It will help. They are hiring huge numbers. Of course, applications are now sky-high, too.
I checked out the site, too.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:13 AM
This is an ongoing thing that never gets picked up in the U3 unemployment numbers. Earlier in the year about 250,000 people lost a job, but the U3 rate actually dropped .2% because even more people fell off the back end of the rolls and stopped being counted.
BadgerHawk on January 8, 2010 at 11:14 AM
This Recovery is just AWESOME!
For the first time in history every single economic indicator is “lagging” even though the Recovery has been well under way for half a year now.
mankai on January 8, 2010 at 11:14 AM
If your’re pinning your escape hopes on an improved housing market in Cali, be prepared top wait a loooooong time.
angryed on January 8, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Made my day.
mankai on January 8, 2010 at 11:15 AM
You forgot a couple of media questions for Obama…
What’s your favorite color?
How did you manage to save the country after following Bush?
I would ask some folks here to stop using this site as a chat room. It clutters the posts related to the subject.
orlandocajun on January 8, 2010 at 11:15 AM
No Ann, it’s actually very simple. All you have to do is shift paradigms a little. The federal government is a massive bureaucracy grossly inefficient by any measurement. Every business venture they have ever undertaken has been a massive failure which they have praised to try and cover up their failure. This is not a democrat/republican/liberal/conservative issue it’s a government issue. If you look at it in that light would you want the federal government involved in your health care decisions in any capacity?
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Midas on January 8, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Good points but most of the growth is in Computers, Semiconductors and communications, which is about 25% growth while most other manufacturing is about 2% growth over last 20 years. Productivity is great but manufacturing jobs is what is needed. We need to stop over consuming, and save so that real money can be used for investments. We need to find more customers over seas. 95% of world population is outside the USA. We need more free trade and less regulation in USA.
Ed Laskie on January 8, 2010 at 11:18 AM
I always understood Palin’s remarks. Medicaid is a state burden. Federal funding doesn’t meet the total bill. So I got her.
I wasn’t so sure and am still not so sure McCain’s ideas that opening up intrastate competition would lower prices.
What I wanted and still want to see is a clamp-down on bad business practices by the insurance companies.
Taking premiums and then cutting people off in the middle of treatment is unacceptable. I don’t mind the idea of private insurance preventing anyone with pre-existing conditions, if they want to offer “boutique” policies.
However, if you take money, then you need to deliver.
That practice told me that the industry was running amok.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:18 AM
No, I’m not that conservative. I like the medicare program, for example.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:19 AM
The use of “unexpected” by Odamna is “unprecedented.” Actually, if something is unprecedented, it would be, by definition, unexpected. One cannot anticipate something that has never happened. One can anticipate the probable results given the observed underlying circumstances. Well, one could unless one happened to be The One who lives in a constant state of surprise.
Crusader Rabbit on January 8, 2010 at 11:20 AM
Congrats on the move to Galveston Bay, Ann. This is unusual weather in Texas. It will get warmer quickly.
Jimbo3 on January 8, 2010 at 11:21 AM
The “Jobs for Jihadists” Program is just getting started… give it time.
mankai on January 8, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Now that I know where it is, that area will rebound first.
It’s a prime spot.
Now, in San Bernadino county?
Heck, walk away.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:22 AM
–I think there were lagging indicators during the 1979-1983/4 recession as well, and there was a double dip for part of that one.
Jimbo3 on January 8, 2010 at 11:23 AM
You proved his point, Ann.
ladyingray on January 8, 2010 at 11:23 AM
Amen to that! Going against conventional wisdom here but the American worker has the most ambitious and intense work ethic of any nationality bar none. Given the chance Americans will outpace any other country. The only thing holding us back is government interference. They get in the way. Get the government out of the way and we’ll still outproduce any nation in the world.
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 11:23 AM
And, btw, anyone who asks about Abby? I never notice mean posts. *haha
I live for that dog.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:23 AM
I paid in years and years for Medicare. I do like that government program safety net now.
I’m not sure what you mean. I also like the post office. I like the efficiency of some government programs, including my DMV in CA. Very slick.
They aren’t entirely incompetent, and many private businesses ARE incompetent and drive me crazy.
It’s a mix, is my point.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:25 AM
Certainly this deserves a “B+”
And possibly a laurel, and hardy handshake.
connertown on January 8, 2010 at 11:26 AM
+1 on that statement. We can out produce anyone. And our military can out fight any nation. But only when the daggone pols keep their idiot ideas to themselves.
Crusader Rabbit on January 8, 2010 at 11:26 AM
I love the welfare checks, I love the lack of jobs
I love big government, I love when great Obama flies
I love the recovery, and all it’s unemployment
Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada, Boomdeyada
WashJeff on January 8, 2010 at 11:26 AM
Gads, I hope so! I thought I was facing that humidity in the summer. And bugs.
I remember those plagues from growing up, but it’s a distant memory. :)
I was all buckled up to adjust.
But this? Dang, I’m cold!
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:27 AM
Paradigms Ann, paradigms. I like it too in concept. Unfortunately it’s like a beautiful bridge spanning a magnificent chasm. Very pretty in pictures but unfortunately we find that the bridge has a fatal design flaw and one fine day unexpectedly (there’s that word again) it collapses during rush hour to the detriment of everyone who happens to be on it. Medicare is that bridge, the flaw is obvious the collapse is inevitable.
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 11:27 AM
Sure some areas will rebound faster than others. But that’s like saying in a category 5 hurricane you’re safer on a 20′ boat vs a 15′ while in the middle of the ocean.
California’s real estate was in such an insane bubble it will take several more years, maybe even decades for it all to shake out. And all the $8K tax credits in the world won’t change that.
angryed on January 8, 2010 at 11:28 AM
–My 8 year old dog generally dislikes men and boys (other than me and a few others). He is also very afraid of gloves (which we now don’t have much of–except this week–since we’re in Texas). We got him as a rescue dog when he was about 10 weeks old. I’ve always thought that he might have been abused/mistreated before he went to the shelter, but maybe there’s something else going on?
Jimbo3 on January 8, 2010 at 11:29 AM
Private businesses that are incompetent go out of business to be replaced by competent ones. Incompetent government businesses get more funding from you and me. They then increase the bureaucratic red tape which makes them even more incompetent. The post office is broke and the only thing that keeps them in business is the mandate that private companies not be allowed to compete with them delivering first class mail. The DMV is a state not federal agency and varies from state to state. Our DMV here in Virginia gave the 9/11 hijackers valid drivers licenses. What do you think would have happened had that been done by a private issuing agency?
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 11:32 AM
Competition is the best way of lowering prices – businesses have to do their best to be as efficient as possible to lower their overhead costs.
Businesses that don’t innovate and down streamline their bureaucracy cannot compete and therefore fail.
Opening up competition across state lines just insures (pardon the pun) that there are more businesses that are in competition.
Government on the other hand Doesn’t have to be efficient – when they run out of money that just take it from the taxpayers.
People need to get away form the mindset that health insurance is for every day issues – it should be for catastrophic care.
It’s like the example everyone gives for car insurance – you don’t have that for oil changes and such, it’s for catastrophic events.
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Sounds like he could have been mistreated, though if you got him at only 10 weeks it would make that less likely. What kind of dog?
And of course, if he’s afraid of black leather gloves, he’s clearly a racist.
BadgerHawk on January 8, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Productivity is one thing, but Quality is suffering. We must take care that we have too few people to do the best job. I see this as an international manager. Orders coming from US are never on time and many small mistakes are made. Germany industrial equipment is delivered when promised and of best quality and no mistakes. Companies such as Atlas Copco which is Sweden company can stock equipment in Belgium and not have problems with tax on inventory and can deliver quickly. In the USA we have to do “Just in Time” and have small inventory to avoid taxes on inventory.
Ed Laskie on January 8, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Obama’s job summit would have worked if not for those pesky 800,000 people who can’t find work.
800,000. Oh my. WHERE ARE THE JOBS????
TN Mom on January 8, 2010 at 11:35 AM
LOL, you ought to try her in agility or flyball.
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 11:36 AM
I’ve noticed a great many people who originally support the public option turn very hard against it over time…
Of course, that’s not hard to believe when you look at the bait-and-switch the left’s representatives pulled on them.
Dark-Star on January 8, 2010 at 11:36 AM
The government is IN THE WAY! Reduce government interference and you’ll see an increase in productivity and quality.
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 11:37 AM
Abby is a papillion. She’s just a very aggressive small breed dog. The ads for Advantage? Where the dog jumps away that ran for a long time? She’s exactly like that.
She was a baby when I got her, and terribly skittish from Day 1. She’s now overly attached to me. Very, very protective.
I like it, because I’m a single woman. Nobody gets close without her being on red-alert. She’s actually perfect. A small dog with territorial characteristics.
BUT….the downside is she’s not sweet to others. She will warm up on HER terms. I’ve adjusted.
I just warn everyone that she’s not nice.
She’s never bitten anyone yet. I want to keep it that way. She’s a great snarler, though.
To me? She’s a doll. She is my companion in life. I have succumbed to being a stereotypical middle-aged woman who lives for her dog. *haha
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:37 AM
Of course some economic indicators will lag others… but claiming that a Recovery is well under way when almost all the indicators reflect otherwise is foolish.
In addition, there is a difference between a true indicator of Recovery and merely a fluctuation (which occur in both good and bad economic times). There were a lot of fluctuating indicators during the Great Depression, but there was no recovery.
Home starts or sales may tick up here and there, the unemployment rate may vary by a few tenths of point from season to season… but these are not true indicators, merely fluctuations… and pouring massive amounts of borrowed money into anything may cause a temporary fluctuation, but that should not be read as a true sign of sustained growth.
The BBC and other outlets declaring in June that the Recovery was underway was irresponsible and silly. The GOP claiming in 82 that by 83 and 84 we’d see tremendous growth was based on real economic data (and on an understanding of basic economic principles).
mankai on January 8, 2010 at 11:38 AM
The Government in the rush to do something about any issue always causes unintended consequences making it worse for the majority to fix a problem that effects very few.
Ed Laskie on January 8, 2010 at 11:40 AM
UNEXPECTED is expected from ap obama.
ohiobabe on January 8, 2010 at 11:41 AM
Yeah, that’s the only thing about rescues – you don’t know what’s happened to them in the past.
It could be that someone would hit him wearing a glove, unfortunately they can only tell us things through body language.
Does he keep him tail down between his legs and keep his ears down against his head?
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 11:42 AM
AnninCA – to be clear, my friend is selling her business opportunity, not hiring.
If you’re potentially interested in buying a business in the Galveston Bay area, I can introduce you.
Midas on January 8, 2010 at 11:42 AM
–We think he’s a border collie-lab-some sort of spaniel mix. Not totally sure, though. He’s pretty passive generally and generally likes people. It’s not just black leather gloves, it’s all gloves. But he’s too young to have been O. J.’s pet.
Jimbo3 on January 8, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Absolutely right. That dang state agency in CA? They finally hooked up with the SSI. I got nailed because my married name wasn’t the same as my SSI name. (It was a mistake on SSI. I didn’t submit the paperwork in the last amnesty law change.)
I was amazed. The good news for CA was that when you paid a ticket? The abstract went through on computer, vastly improving the efficiency of that aspect of the system.
You are correct. This improvement is a feather in the cap of the State and has nothing to do with Federal efficiency.
My only point is that I’m not opposed to government. It can work. I use a lot of government agency services and some work very well.
I’m not THAT libertarian, I guess.
I think Medicare is so integrated in most of our lives as part of our post-career benefits that it’s unthinkable that it might disappear. I’m worried about expansion. Those of us headed in or on Medicare paid in advance. This is more of an entitlement expansion. That worries me.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:44 AM
–Not 99% of the time. He is generally a very friendly and happy dog, looking up with mouth open, running to us and wanting a pet or stratch or walk, etc. So whatever it is that’s caused the issue must only get triggered in some circumstances.
Jimbo3 on January 8, 2010 at 11:44 AM
There are plenty of jobs out here in Southern California…
They pay $8.50/hr and you have to speak fluent Spanish, but hey, Obowma’s plan is working perfectly.
Seven Percent Solution on January 8, 2010 at 11:44 AM
I’d still like to hear about it. I probably don’t have enough cash to do it, but who knows?
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:45 AM
My own company cut back on hours worked in the month of December. I see nothing in the near future that would cause them to add back those hours let alone add new hires.
TN Mom on January 8, 2010 at 11:47 AM
I think that’s the insider DC group, on their last leg. They also got blasted out of the water by the crash, they just didn’t know it. They won the election but lost the “war,” so to speak.
They have not adjusted to reality with grace. But neither have insider GOP.
They are still polling that Romney is their candidate. Are they kidding me?
He’s absolutely passe’, out of the game, and never going to get more than 20%.
Rethink time for ALL insiders, whether Dem or GOP.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Correction. I DID submit it. It was a mix-up on SSI
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:50 AM
It’s only unthinkable because you don’t want to think about it. Medicare along with social security is going to collapse, it’s only a question of when. You did not pay either medicare or social security in advance, that’s not how it works. You paid for the people who were using those entitlements at the time.
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 11:50 AM
If the unemployment rate is decided by how many people are on benefits, does that mean in a year or two when everybody runs out of benefits, that the unemployment rate goes down and everybody falsely thinks that the economy is getting better, because now it shows that fewer people are on unemployment??Anyone…
royzer on January 8, 2010 at 11:51 AM
What about with strangers or other dogs?
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 11:51 AM
I know. I paid forward. And I trust that the system will be funded.
My entire career was based upon retirement benefits coordinated with those benefits.
I do not think we’ll let that fail.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM
The glove thing sounded like a fighting dog issue, but the fact that you got him at 10 weeks and it’s a collie mix doesn’t really match up with that.
Some dogs just have odd things they’re scared of, just like most people have one or two irrational things they’re afraid of. I’ve seen a dog that’s afraid of hats (or anything that covers up most of a persons face), which makes winter in Wisconsin interesting. At least you live in a place where you don’t have to wear gloves very often.
BadgerHawk on January 8, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Ann I’ve watched your posts for a while. I’ve never seen anything mean or nasty in them. You seem like a very nice person from what I can glean here. I must tell you though that you are an extremely naive individual. You are stuck in a fantasy world of your own design. I think you want to look outside but are afraid of what you’ll find. I wish you were right but the evidence before me says that you are wrong.
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Maybe. I tend to have good instincts about politics. I don’t know why.
But I think medicare will face cutbacks, not elimination.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 12:05 PM
Hey, Chainsaw. Abby is getting along great with my brother’s dog.
They are enjoying one another. There’s a bit of snapping, but nothing real.
His dog is a male, and he’s not a doormat. She’s dominating, but not enough to really scare him.
They are fun to watch.
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 12:07 PM
Cutbacks? More rationing? Heaven forbid!!
ladyingray on January 8, 2010 at 12:08 PM
AnninCA on January 8, 2010 at 12:09 PM
I said nothing about elimination. I said that it will collapse and fail. If cutbacks in benefits are required is that not a failure?
How’s that working out for you?
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 12:11 PM
That’s cool, most dogs will mouth at each other but you can usually tell if it’s ‘Serious’ or not.
I was going to ask Jimbo3 about that glove thing but he never came back, oh well.
I have to go – my little one is asking to go outside and chase squirrels OR use the facilities – it’s one or the other but my guess it’s the former rather than the latter.
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Cool! I finally found AnninCA’s private blog site!
There’s so much more I’d like to know besides every half-baked thought that passes through her mind!
What kind of dog food does your dog like? What’s your sign?
DarkCurrent on January 8, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Make like dandruff and flake off.
Dark-Star on January 8, 2010 at 12:19 PM
I evolved over this debate. I really wanted public option, until I saw the actual debate unfold. It is too complicated.
Ann, you’re a good egg. You can disagree with people w/out being disagreeable. That’s a rare quality on Web forums.
PackerBronco on January 8, 2010 at 12:24 PM
This is a horrible, morbid thought, but I wonder how many of those people just decided to end it all because of their financial situations.
Just another “unexpected” consequence of this administration’s devastating policies. :-(
UltimateBob on January 8, 2010 at 12:27 PM
*haha
DarkCurrent on January 8, 2010 at 12:28 PM
That’s true, Badgerhawk. The hat thing must be tough in the winters.
Chainsaw, sorry. I got tied up with work. He’s generally fine with strangers (so long as he knows we approve of them) and most other dogs. One or two aggressive dogs or “dogs with mean/challenging vibes” will get to him and he’ll growl at them, but otherwise he’s fine playing with other dogs, but seems to prefer us to dogs. It may just be a quirky thing with our dog.
Jimbo3 on January 8, 2010 at 12:33 PM
The AP is just prepping for when the death panels come into play under Obamacare. “The HHS panel unexpectedly decided that permitting doctors to give 80 year olds bypass operations was not cost effective. Henceforth the elderly will be given a pill for their condition.”
eaglewingz08 on January 8, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Remember last month when the unemployment rate went from 10.2 to 10 and every one of the HotAir liberal wackpack rushed in here to remind us of the genius of Obamanomics?
This report is pretty scary stuff if you look under the hood. 840,000 people dropped out of the workforce in a single month. If you kep them in the unemployment rate would have leaped up to 10.5%
Take a look at the NILF numbers for the past decade:
http://market-ticker.org/uploads/2010/Jan/nilf-2010-01.png
The numbers were below average when Obama took office, despite unemployment over 7%. Look at them a year later.
That’s the welfare part of the stimulus at work. People dropping off the state unemployment rolls and onto the federal ones. As they do that, they aren’t counted in the unemployment rate.
Chuck Schick on January 8, 2010 at 12:43 PM
How unexpected. Yet, the gubamint job gains are brisk.
ihasurnominashun on January 8, 2010 at 12:43 PM
Some dogs are okay with just people and some are just okay with dogs.
The BC in him will want to make sure he works out what the current pack hierarchy is.
I was going to ask if he attack the gloves or just shies away from them?
Depending on what he does with that, one ‘dumb’ suggestion could be give him a glove as a toy to play with or feed him treats wearing a glove so that he associates gloves in a positive light.
Maybe just start out putting the glove on the floor and put some treats on it.
Of course, being part BC he might not be food motivated as much, but that’s one suggestion.
Chainsaw56 on January 8, 2010 at 12:48 PM
The unemployment rate is determined by the “household survey” not the non-farm payrolls report or number of people on unemployment benefits. That’s the reason you can see weird months where the unemployment rate drops and half a million jobs were lost or vise versa.
The way it works is they call a large number of people (50,000 I think) and ask them if they work, how many hours, if not did they look for work. That last part determines unemployment since if you didn’t look for work you’re not included in the labor force for unemployment purposes. Unemployment benefits play a role because you “have” to look for a job while on them so you’re in the labor force (unless you lie).
The problem with the household survey is it fluctuates quite a bit since it’s a survey. The non-farm payrolls are a different but more stable method, especially with my favorite method, comparing it against a roughly linear labor force (that is we add about 120,000 workers a month, so losing 97,000 jobs with revisions means unemployment went up 217,000 or about 0.15%).
jarodea on January 8, 2010 at 12:54 PM
OMG, Beltway Bob is playing the “jobs created or saved” verbal shell game with the press during his daily briefing. Almost all of the White House press corps is mesmerized by his BS. The president wakes up “almost every day” and worries about where the economy is. I am so relieved.
Philly on January 8, 2010 at 12:56 PM
Almost 2 million have dropped out since the beginning of the year. I would expect a large number to drop out in December though with retailers winding down seasonal work and most of that done by people who wouldn’t normally be in the labor market.
Unemployment with all those included is 11.6%.
jarodea on January 8, 2010 at 12:56 PM
Here’s the most worrisome datatpoint to me, 6.1 million people have been on unemployment benefits for more than 6 months. Add in those without unemployment and the unemployed for more than 6 months rate now exceeds the unemployment rate for most of 1995-2007 amd is also a record by a long stretch.
I don’t hear it talked about much but we are really going to have to do something to get those people employed again. If left to the market businesses will grab new entrants and those recently unemployed (as they’re doing right now) meaning by the time business exhausts that supply and works up to the longer-term unemployed they’ll essentially be unusable/too old/far far lower in productivity.
jarodea on January 8, 2010 at 1:05 PM
17.3 percent
http://tinyurl.com/yhcufah
Philly on January 8, 2010 at 1:07 PM
I’m in Ventura County. My house was 200k under last year, but this year is close to 100k under. Optimistic expectations are closer to breakeven by 2012. Riverside, LA, and San Bernardino counties are in much worse shape.
jbh45 on January 8, 2010 at 1:21 PM
MSNBC just lost a major portion of their audience. Rush just told Cookie “No more sound bites from MSNBC.” I guess that means HotAir in now the sole remaining major contributor to who hears or sees anything on MSNBC. Limbaugh did add one caveat though. If something is extremely funny they’ll use it but it has to be funny not just ridiculous.
Oldnuke on January 8, 2010 at 1:23 PM
At least they get unemployment for two years to figure out a new plan. College Graduates of the last couple years are out of luck.
PrezHussein on January 8, 2010 at 1:35 PM
White House releases another report:
Sun unexpectedly rose in the east today.
rbj on January 8, 2010 at 1:35 PM
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