WASHINGTON — The number of newly laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, after falling for five straight weeks.
Despite the increase, claims have fallen steadily since this summer, a sign that job cuts are slowing and hiring could pick up as soon as early next year amid a broad economic recovery.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was above analysts’ expectations of 460,000 new claims.
Claims were partly inflated by a surge following the Thanksgiving holiday week, when many state unemployment offices are closed, a department analyst said. Seasonal layoffs in the construction industry also played a role.
Economists closely monitor initial claims, which are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new workers.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths fluctuations, fell to 473,750, its 14th straight decline and the lowest level since September 2008.
Still, claims will have to fall to about 425,000 for several weeks to signal the economy is actually adding jobs, according to many economists.
The number of people continuing to claim benefits fell by 303,000 to 5.16 million, the lowest level since February. The total unemployment benefit rolls have fallen in 11 of the past 12 weeks.
But the so-called continuing claims do not include millions of people that have used up the regular 26 weeks of benefits typically provided by states, and are receiving extended benefits for up to 73 additional weeks, paid for by the federal government.
About 4.6 million people were receiving extended benefits in the week ended Nov. 21, the latest data available. That’s an increase of about 130,000 from the previous week, and is partly due to an extension of benefits that Congress enacted last month.
The economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace in the July-September quarter and analysts say it is likely growing at a similar pace in the current quarter. But that is much slower than the average 6 percent rate in previous economic recoveries.
As a result, most economists expect the unemployment rate to rise in coming months and remain above 9 percent through the end of next year.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that he expects “modest” economic growth next year. That should help push down the nation’s unemployment rate — now at 10 percent — “but at a pace slower than we would like,” he acknowledged.
The Labor Department last week said employers shed 11,000 jobs in November, much better than economists expected and below the 111,000 lost the previous month.
December 10th,2009
Uncategorized |
Comments Off
How can they extend the benefits when they have no money? Eventually these people getting unemployment are going to have to get off their ass and take a job that they may think is “beneath them”.Getting unemployment for 99 weeks is MORE than enough time to find a job, even if it’s a crappy job at Walmart. Enough is enough.
(12-08) 16:28 PST — Nearly 600,000 jobless Californians could run out of unemployment benefits by April unless Congress extends a series of special assistance measures that expire at the end of December, says the National Employment Law Project.
The 65 percent federal subsidy for Cobra benefits will also expire at year’s end, said the Law Project and allied groups at a press conference Monday in Washington.
Law Project chief Christine Owens said that nearly half of those now enrolled in the health insurance program could lose coverage unless the Cobra subsidy is reauthorized and extended.
Unemployment benefits normally last a maximum of 26 weeks and laid-off workers typically pay for continuing their old employment-based health insurance under Cobra.
But under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the Obama stimulus plan, Congress allocated $40 billion to make unemployment benefits available for up to 79 weeks, and another $25 billion to subsidize Cobra.
Lawmakers recently added up to 20 weeks of unemployment checks, for a total of 99 weeks of benefits in California.
But those provisions expire at the end of December, and the groups holding Monday’s press conference said that by the end of March, about 3 million Americans are projected to exhaust their benefits as the unemployment coverage maximum reverts to 26 weeks.
Making 99 weeks of unemployment benefits available throughout 2010 would cost about $85 billion, and extending the Cobra subsidy could be another $25 billion decision, said a Capitol Hill source.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she wants to extend both programs before the end of the year. New bills H.R. 4183 and S. 2381 would address jobless benefits.
December 9th,2009
Politics | tags:
unemployment,
welfare |
Comments Off
smith.yannik
Whenever someone is shopping for a new HDTV, He/She think about thin LCD and Samsung provides the least expensive member of Samsung’s 2009 family of ultrathin LED-backlit LCD TVs is the UNB6000 series. Samsung UN46B6000 is one of the slimmest HDTVs ever made. The new 
Samsung UN46B6000 46-inch LED High Definition TV is just 1.2″ deep. The Samsung UN46B6000 is a 46″ flat screen LCD TV, which has a 1080p display for high-definition TV viewing.
Product summary
The good: Produces relatively deep black levels, perfect color; very good dejudder processing; sleek styling with 1.2-inch thick panel, excellent picture controls, extreme energy-efficient.
The bad: Expensive, less-uniform screen than other LCDs, poor off-angle viewing; backlight fluctuates, dark areas tinged bluer, shiny screen causes reflections in bright rooms; red frame isn’t for everyone.
The bottom line: Although it delivers fine picture quality, except for a few flaws, the ultrathin Samsung UNB6000 series will appeal mainly to style seekers who don’t mind spending more money.
Key Features
• Screen Size: 46 inches.
• Picture quality: With true-to-life brightness ranging from the purest black to pristine white.
• Ultra-slim Design: 1.2-inch depth.
• Blazing 4ms response time: Minimizes blurring of fast motion in sports programs.
• HD-Grade Pixel Resolution: High-resolution pixel density is combined with a built-in image scaler to handle inputs from a variety of digital and analog audio/video sources.
• Auto Motion Plus 120Hz: Advanced processing that reduces blur and enhances image detail when viewing fast motion video sequences.
• Ultra Clear Panel: Advanced LCD technology lets you enjoy crisp image details, natural skin tones, excellent shadow detail, and vibrant colors.
• Wide Color Enhancer: Pro optimizes a given color’s hue, resulting in more natural rendering of colors.
• Audio: Two 10-watt stereo speakers (for 20 watts of total power)
• InfoLink: Get free RSS feeds of news, weather and sports right to your HDTV with a built-in Ethernet port.
• Energy Star Compliant: Reduces energy consumption by up to 25 percent compared with standard TVs.
• Trilingual: on-screen displays in English, Spanish or French.
• Warranty: 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty with in home service.
Price range: $1,837.00 – $2,429.99
Conclusion
The Samsung UN46B6000 is a good television. It offers an excellent contrast ratio, accurate colors and good motion blur reduction, provides modern connectivity with 4HDMI ports, 2 USB ports. But it has some negative aspect also, The viewing angle is poor, the screen is very reflective and it has some significant artifacts during motion. Still, as a whole this is a television that many people will be quite happy with from a picture quality perspective.
Hopefully these tips help you a lot about your selection of HDTV. Any type of suggestion and comment are heartily invited.you can mail me also at
Good Luck!!!
Daniel Saltman
August 11th,2009
Uncategorized |
Comments Off
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/12/12/funny-pictures-why-do-you-mock-me/
December 12th,2008
Uncategorized |
Comments Off
