Jobless claims drop sharply last week

[southernleftylady]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by an unexpectedly sharp 34,000 last week, the largest drop since 2002, due in part to fewer auto-sector layoffs, a government report showed on Thursday
First-time claims for state unemployment insurance aid fell to 303,000 in the week ended July 16 from a revised 337,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said.

It was the largest one-week decline since December 2002 and brought new claims to the lowest level since April.

Wall Street had expected a far smaller decrease to 327,000 from the original reading of 336,000 in the week ended July 9.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors behind the large drop, but noted the number of new claims from the automobile sector was smaller than the previous week.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050721/bs_nm/economy_jobless_dc

[trotsky]

1. I love how this passes as "good" news!

Hey everybody, guess what! Not QUITE as many people are newly unemployed as we thought there would be!

[greenbriar]

2. people are tired of

applying for jobs that do not exist just to get their unemployment

[jojo54]

3. Once again, someone forgot to remove the ones whoose

benefits have run out. Still no job and no more unemployment checks, so we don't have to count them.

[robcon]

6. Unemployed people are always counted as unemployed

It doesn't matter if they are qualified for, or getting, unemploymnet insurance or not.

[trotsky]

8. Not true.

If someone is unemployed long enough, they drop off the unemployment count.

[robcon]

10. That's not true.

They are dropped from unemployment insurance, but are counted as unemployed in the BLS statistics. Always.

[trotsky]

11. Let's see what the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_faq.htm#Ques5

Who is counted as unemployed?

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

Not enough jobs available, people stop looking, they don't count as unemployed.

Unless you want to argue with a government website.

[Zorra]

4. WP: Plame's Identity Marked As Secret

(Just thought I'd share this, for no apparent reason)

A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.

Plame -- who is referred to by her married name, Valerie Wilson, in the memo -- is mentioned in the second paragraph of the three-page document, which was written on June 10, 2003, by an analyst in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), according to a source who described the memo to The Washington Post.

The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.

Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information, though that designation was not specifically attached to Plame's name and did not describe her status as covert, the sources said. It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a federal official to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA official if the person knows the government is trying to keep it secret.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072002517_pf.html

[flyarm]

5. Hewlett-Packard to cut 14500 jobs

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8625485/

snip:

Hewlett-Packard to cut 14,500 jobs
Restructuring plan designed to save $1.9 billion annually

The Associated Press
Updated: 5:30 p.m. ET July 19, 2005
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Striving for Dell Inc.’s efficiency and IBM Corp.’s breadth, Hewlett-Packard Co. said Tuesday it will cut 14,500 jobs and overhaul its retirement plan in a move that all but buries the legendary company-employee bond known as the “H-P Way.”

The computer and printer maker once known for treating employees like family said it will save $1.9 billion a year as it trims its global work force of 151,000 by 10 percent over the next 18 months.

H-P did not specify where jobs will be lost. But executives said support jobs will be most affected — in information technology, human resources and finance — as they weed out inefficiencies.

[flyarm]

7. Kodak Plans to Cut Up to 10,000 More Jobs

http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Eastman-Kodak.html&OQ=pagewantedQ3Dprint&OP=7ea6248eQ2F4Y)S42_aq,__l84Q7Dk_tQ3Fyt)4SRqyt)qq4j-oQ3DQ7D,tqoQ3DQ7DqlwQ7DtoX_2Q7DAQ22KlwQ3F


Kodak Plans to Cut Up to 10,000 More Jobs

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 20, 2005
Eastman Kodak said it will lay off as many as 10,000 workers in addition to the 15,000 already announced as it posted a loss in the second quarter.

10,000+ 15,000 = 25,000 nyer's out of work!

[obnoxiousdrunk]

9. They always can

get into the burger flipping manufacturing industry. Right ???