Data shows fresh signs of improving economy

Source: Reuters

Fresh signs the U.S. economy has broken out of its summer soft patch emerged on Thursday as data showed a gauge of jobless benefits hit a new two-year low last week and pending home sales unexpectedly rose in October.

The picture also brightened as retailers recorded their best sales gains in four years in November, with shoppers drawn in by deals throughout a month that culminated with a surge in "Black Friday" traffic.

The reports were the latest to suggest a pick-up in activity in the fourth quarter.

"There seems to be no doubt that the economy is improving and likely to continue to improve," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B14SW20101202

Source: WSJ
12/01/10

Private-sector payrolls continued to expand in November, with a large upward revision to October's number, according to data released Wednesday.

Meanwhile, manufacturing activity continued to expand in November, according to the Institute of Supply Management, but the pace of growth slowed a bit.
...
Service-sector jobs increased by 79,000 last month, while factory jobs rose by 16,000.
...
Other job reports released Wednesday were mixed.

TrimTabs estimated the U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs in November, the second consecutive monthly increase since May. However, the report warned the gains are driven by seasonal hiring and so are temporary.

Meanwhile, employers announced job cuts totaling 48,711 in November--28% higher than the planned layoffs reported in October. It was the highest job-cut total since March, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Hardly any negative spin there at all...










....










:sarcasm:

Thanks anyway.

It's got a "D" in it and it's MUCH bigger than '08...

What's your point? :shrug:

My point is that this is supposed to be good news about the economy and everyone is jumping on it as if it's bad news, for whatever reason that may be. Some guy comes along with something from the WSJ & and some historical graph to try and disprove that there's any signs of recovery and I felt like posting my favorite graph in response.

I give up. You can have this thread now.

(I know you probably did but)

Did you understand what they're saying...

It's M$M happy talk that is supposed to fool the sheeple into thinking things are getting better...

When they are just not getting worse as quickly as they were... That's all the numbers in the article said -- that it wasn't as bad as the prognosticators thought it was going to be...

.............................

Beyond that, a recognition that the cheap fossil fueled "economy" of consumptive waste that is currently ending will not collapse with a smooth curve on the graph but in a punctuated manner -- little increases then a drop then another small increase (but not to previous level) then another drop, etc.

There's no more fuel...

There are too many humans...

They have begun destroying the web of life that supports all life...

So this bullshit little up and down motion of the dying "economy" is irrelevant... :shrug:

:hi:

Therefore, it follows that I have to agree with your last line.

:hi:

are too busy watching American Idol to read stuff from Reuters. I guess we should be elated that the public is becoming more engaged in the political process now that they're reading economic reports online.

And, please, what's with the "soft patch" reference? That's a bush-ism.

Soft Patch
A period of weak economic performance amid a longer strong performance. That is, a soft patch is mild slowdown between two periods of high economic growth. Central banks usually cut target interest rates during a soft patch to encourage a return to growth. The term is somewhat informal and usually used in the media and by the Federal Reserve.
Farlex Financial Dictionary
http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Soft+Patch

Check it out:

"Initial claims for state unemployment aid increased 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 436,000 last week, the Labor Department said. But a four-week moving average -- a better gauge of underlying labor trends -- fell to its lowest level since the week ending Aug 2, 2008 <the height of the current Depression!>.

<snip - irrelevant>

"Anecdotal evidence points to a firming labor market and the government is expected to report that nonfarm payrolls rose 140,000 last month after increasing 151,000 in October, according to a Reuters survey."

Let's do the math, shall we children...

436,000 new unemployment claims -- 151,000 "new jobs" = LOSS of 285,000 fucking jobs!!!

And next month, when the unemployment runs out for a couple million USAmericans, all of a sudden the unemployment percentage will DROP!!!

======================================================

Gee, there's got to be a pony under all this horseshit!

Don't they have a calculator over there at Reuters...

Plus, this "Anecdotal evidence points to a firming labor market"!!!!

Anecdotal evidence points to completely clueless math challenged idiots at the Reuters Washington, DC offices!

for that you'd need calculus... :)

It's not that we don't want recovery. Forgive me, but that's a very silly accusation to make on a Democratic board when so many are hurting so badly for so long, including so many DUers.


OF COURSE we want recovery and, contrary to bs posted on this board on almost every thread, we'd love a dem adminstration to deliver it, too.

It's that we've had it with bullshit news stories about recovery when it doesn't exist.