Light at the End of the Unemployment Line?

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/8521/

5-14-09, 10:00 am

New information released this week by the White House Task Force on Working Families, appointed to oversee the progress of the President's economic recovery act, showed that about 12 percent of the recovery act funds have so far been distributed, mostly in tax cuts for working families, construction projects, extended unemployment benefits, accelerated environmental clean-up projects and aid to states. According to the task force's report, some 150,000 jobs have been created or saved.

Many projects targeted for recovery act funds are yet to be started and much of the funding as been made available but still hasn't arrived at its destination. Simply put, the greatest impact of the recovery act is yet to come. Earlier this month the Department of Transportation estimated that most construction projects will get into full swing by the summer. The task force optimistically reported that in the next 100 days, some 600,000 jobs will be created or saved due to recovery act projects and programs.

In April, the unemployment figures showed signs of improvement. While the Department of Labor reported a loss of 539,000 jobs that months and a jump in the unemployment rate to 8.9 percent, the numbers were the best since last September and shy of economists' predictions. Almost 6 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007.

But do the latest data from the Department of Labor suggest that the dismal unemployment situation has yet turned a corner?

According to Department of Labor statistics released today, May 14th, initial jobless claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 9th increased over the previous week by 32,000 to 637,000. This means that 637,000 newly laid-off people filed for unemployment benefits during that week. This week's numbers put the moving four-week average up by about 6,000, the DOL reported.

Put into perspective, the four-week moving average at this time last year, the sixth month of the current recession, stood at 325,000.

This past week, New York, Michigan and North Carolina saw the largest decreases in the number of new jobless claims as those states reported fewer layoffs in the auto, transportation, construction, trades and manufacturing sectors.

FULL story at link.