Retailers Shed 38,000 Jobs In December

[mhr]

Hi All,

Still don't believe that we are in a Bush depression. Consider this. Retailers eliminated 38,000 jobs during the height of the Christmas buying season.

If an economy can't keep jobs when spending is at a yearly peak then it is self evident that something is awry.

Further, has anyone else noticed that there are no after Christmas spending stories. If Christmas spending was as good as expected why no gushing stories of retailer bliss?

The excerpted article sheds some light on just how surprised the economists were by the latest jobs report.

Enjoy
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001833939_jobs100.html

Jobless rate dips, but so does hope

By Danielle DiMartino
The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — Giving up.

That is what 309,000 Americans who had been searching for jobs did in December, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Though the unemployment rate dropped from 5.9 percent to 5.7 percent, its lowest level in 14 months, many experts were discouraged by the source of the decline because it was mainly due to a shrinking labor force.

"The drop in the unemployment rate was not good news. It was bad news," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at First Albany. "Politicians will try to put a positive spin on it, but the truth is there was nothing good, uplifting or encouraging in the report."

Snip ......

Retailers also shed 38,000 positions, an unusual decline given the normal tendency to hire workers for the holidays. The financial-services sector lost 12,000 jobs because of a decline in mortgage activity.

[rumguy]

1. what an awesome recovery this is!

Not.

[54anickel]

2. Great article - a little bit of truthfulness for a change! Like this part

"This is a real wide and deep recession," she told a business audience Thursday night.

Nationally, because wage growth has slowed and the few jobs being created seem to be in low-paying industries, some analysts said there's a risk to their growth estimates for the economy and for consumer spending.

"I asked myself, 'What does this report mean?' " said Johnson, of First Albany.

"I figure I will need to revise my first and second-quarter GDP (gross-domestic-product) estimates downward. We're just not going to get the growth in spending we've been expecting."