US Sheds 651,000 jobs in February ALONE

[hornetrider]

fk me.

That is a lot of people jobless. Who will buy the burgers now?

[EDLT]

There is about 300 million people there though.

[Fittster]

On the positive side the DOW is up. Nothing like a lot of sacking to warm the heart of a trader.

[hornetrider]

Fittster said:

On the positive side the DOW is up. Nothing like a lot of sacking to warm the heart of a trader.

Were you watching Jon Stewart last night? Frickin' hilarious! Judging pretty much everything by how the DOW reacted to it...

[bitwrx]

Similar amount for the few months previously was it no?

[hornetrider]

No, largest single month since 1949 according to the BBC.

[bitwrx]

hornetrider said:

No, largest single month since 1949 according to the BBC.

Ah that's because

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

   The number of unemployed persons increased by [b]851,000[/b] to 12.5 million in 
February, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent.  Over the past 12 
months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by about 5.0 million, 
and the unemployment rate has risen by 3.3 percentage points.  (See table 
A-1.)

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Certainly has been over 600k for two recent months though. I forget which. Prob Dec/Jan

ETA I stand corrected
Over-the-month change as revised (BM2008)

YEAR	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
2008	-72	-144	-122	-160	-137	-161	-128	-175	-321	-380	-597	-577

January was -508K

Edited by bitwrx on Friday 6th March 15:15

[Fittster]

hornetrider said:

Fittster said:

On the positive side the DOW is up. Nothing like a lot of sacking to warm the heart of a trader.

Were you watching Jon Stewart last night? Frickin' hilarious! Judging pretty much everything by how the DOW reacted to it...

Unfortunately not, rubbish hotel has limited channels.

Always seemed a bit strange that stock rises in a consumer economy when lots of people are made redundant. Who will buy the companies products?

[jeff m]

Company reports for February are not due until March 28 for some companies and April 28 for others.

Amazing how they come up with these figures.

Probably the same way Rwanda gets it unemployment data.
Exactly how does a country get unemployment data if it doesn't pay enemployment ben.

The US gets it's data from a form (can't remember the number) that we are forced to fill out noting a new employee and any employees not on the payroll for the period in question.

[jeff m]

Fittster said:

Always seemed a bit strange that stock rises in a consumer economy when lots of people are made redundant. Who will buy the companies products?

Employees become cheaper, therefore businesses can run a little more profitabley.

With full employment a company would be trying to out bit another company for the services of workers they need. A worker would pick and choose on the basis of the best deal. Rising unemployment means he is more likely to take what is offered as he has a mortgage!

[Fittster]

jeff m said:

Fittster said:

Always seemed a bit strange that stock rises in a consumer economy when lots of people are made redundant. Who will buy the companies products?

Employees become cheaper, therefore businesses can run a little more profitabley.

With full employment a company would be trying to out bit another company for the services of workers they need. A worker would pick and choose on the basis of the best deal. Rising unemployment means he is more likely to take what is offered as he has a mortgage!

But people are not just employees there are also consumers. So you might have a short term reduction in costs but overall there is likely to be less consumption. If one particular company lays people off it might be more competitive but the news today was of mass lay offs accross the economy yet the markets response was to raise stock prices.

[esselte]

jeff m said:

Fittster said:

Always seemed a bit strange that stock rises in a consumer economy when lots of people are made redundant. Who will buy the companies products?

Employees become cheaper, therefore businesses can run a little more profitabley.

With full employment a company would be trying to out bit another company for the services of workers they need. A worker would pick and choose on the basis of the best deal. Rising unemployment means he is more likely to take what is offered as he has a mortgage!

But if there's less people in work doesn't that mean the employer's market for his goods is smaller,so less sales,less profit?

[jeff m]

esselte said:

jeff m said:

Fittster said:

Always seemed a bit strange that stock rises in a consumer economy when lots of people are made redundant. Who will buy the companies products?

Employees become cheaper, therefore businesses can run a little more profitabley.

With full employment a company would be trying to out bit another company for the services of workers they need. A worker would pick and choose on the basis of the best deal. Rising unemployment means he is more likely to take what is offered as he has a mortgage!

But if there's less people in work doesn't that mean the employer's market for his goods is smaller,so less sales,less profit?

He would just moderate his output to match demand, his unit cost would still be lower.

Eric give me a hand here

Edited by jeff m on Saturday 7th March 01:10