Tag Archives: Unemployment

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 59.7 from February's reading of 68.0 (which was revised down from 69.6). The decline wipes out most of the gains observed last month and brings the index to its second lowest reading so far this year. According to Lynn Franco, director or economic indicators at The Conference Board, the retreat in consumer confidence was driven primarily by a sharp decline in respondents' economic outlook, "although consumers were also more pessimistic in their assessment of current conditions."

With an upbeat assessment of the economy, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted 11-1 Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged and to continue its program of purchasing agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and longer-term Treasury securities to "maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative." Kansas City Fed President Esther George, who opposed a similar action in January, cast the lone dissenting vote.

Deloitte's Consumer Spending Index experienced a minor bump in February as "a decline in initial unemployment claims and a rise in real average hourly earnings offset negative forces," the company reported Wednesday. The index, which tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future spending, rose slightly to 4.0 last month from a reading 3.9 in January. While the increase was relatively small, it turned around three straight months of declines and showed consumers are weathering the payroll tax increase well.

Unexpectedly positive employment and spending data drove mortgage rates to their highest level since August last week, according to Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell 10,000 to 332,000 for the week ending March 9, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 350,000 initial unemployment claims. The drop in filings the third in the last four weeks resumed a downward trend in layoffs.

Strong demand, tight inventory, and positive signs among broader economic indicators led Capital Economics to revise its previous price gain forecast up to 8 percent.

The economy added 236,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate slipped to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 160,000 and that the unemployment rate would remain at 7.8 percent.

Initial unemployment insurance claims fell 7,000 for the week ending March 2, closing the week at an advance estimate of 340,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The decline represents the fourth drop in the last five weeks, indicating a downward trend in layoffs.

The President has tried repeatedly to describe the impact of sequestration, a mandatory across-the-board cut in federal spending exempting only a small handful of social safety net programs. Despite those exemptions, a simple fact is that people will die as a result of these cuts, and lives could be changed irrevocably. The tragedy in this is not what might happen, although that's pretty severe long-term. The tragedy is both Democrats and Republicans have the means to fix it without having to resort to face-saving techniques.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 22,000 to 344,000 for the week ending February 23, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Meanwhile, the number of continuing claims fell to the lowest level in almost five years.