Reuters:Jobless Claims Fall in Another Plus for Economy

600,000 people applying for unemployment is "better and better". you have to stop this nonsense.

Just because things are bad doesn't mean they can't be getting better. Would you rather see the 4 week avg of new jobless claims going up?

Record continuing claims. I'd rather see some jobs being created. Bob, no, of course not. But better and better and fast?

Better? Yes. Fast? Not really.

All of the national economic reports are almost irrelevant to the Manhattan economy. We are substantially linked with the financial sector. In 2007, 25% of city tax revenues came from fin svces and that number wont be anywhere near that level again for decades. Increasing regulation will hamper industry economics which will lead to decreases in salaries for employees.

This is the reason that Manhattan real estate is a bad investment in the near term. Only when you see the banks hiring again in substantial numbers will this market bottom out. My guess is that it will take two bonus cycles before any significant appreciation returns (around the beginning of 2011).

it's just that the new claims not going up has nothing to do with all these people who are out of work and still out of work for months and months. its still pretty friggin' horrible out there job market wise. we all read the same 10 news sources anyway. it's not like he ever posts anything we don't already know.

This is the significant portion of that article:

*** "Economists expect the labor market will remain very depressed even when growth begins to pick up and the weekly report emphasized conditions remain bleak for millions of Americans.

The number of people staying on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of aid rose 56,000 to 6.351 million in the week ended April 25, the most recent week for which data is available. Analysts estimated so-called continued claims would be 6.36 million.

It was the highest reading on record and pushed the insured unemployment rate to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent the week before. Continued claims have now notched fresh record high readings for 14 straight weeks." ***

Occasionally, there are upward or static blips like the one described in this article, because RIFs and layoffs come in waves. We haven't experienced the effects of the massive auto industry layoffs to come. We also haven't yet seen the full effects of the layoffs that are now taking place or will take place globally. They will certainly affect us (even in Manhattan).

I have colleagues who are working 12-hour days, 6 days a week, to advise their clients on layoffs. At some large corporations -- the ones that began laying off early -- they kept in-house counsel and HR staffs on to get rid of everyone else, and now the lawyers and HR people are being chopped. There are few jobs in this country that can't be outsourced cheaper. Few jobs are safe and many will never come back.

The government is cushioning the blow by adding 33 weeks of unemployment benefits after state benefits run out. If that were not the case, the picture right now would be very grim, indeed. We will have to see what happens after a year's worth of unemployment benefits is gone for many of these folks. While I think there will be some improvement in about 12-18 months, my own take on it is that no one should expect life to be like it was over the past decade -- ever again.

We have the highest unemployment rate since 1983... and, oh yeah, its still increasing.

Awesome, more great news SteveF!

Your condo will only lose another 10% this month!