Jobless Claims Up -- And The Job Market Recovery May Be 'Cruelly Uneven'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/job-market-recovery_n_805171.html


Although new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, it's been a week of good news for economic recovery: manufacturing orders are up, firings in 2010 were at a 13-year low, and the private sector is continuing to add jobs at a promising rate.

"We've got a recovery on our hands," economist John Silvia told the Huffington Post. Silvia views the rise in jobless benefits -- up 18,000 to 409,000, according to Labor Department figures released on Thursday -- as standard fluctuation. "Even though the jobless claims rose last week, the number over time is declining," he said, adding that he thinks we'll see real improvement in Friday's extensive report on the labor market. "I think it's a different game out there."

The game, according to a new Time cover story may be: Where. Despite all the promising news, Time suggests there may be wide sections of the country that remain mired in joblessness:

"None of this means that we're going back to an old-fashioned economy. One of the less attractive features of this job recovery is that it will be cruelly uneven. It will favor, more than ever, the college educated over blue collar workers. It will favor cities that have developed industry clusters in which skills match demand. It will favor the Dakotas over states such as Florida, Nevada and California. It will favor those who work in the private sector over those who work in the public sector."

More at the link --

The pukes are dead meat now. eom