Thursday, March 21, 2013

Thursday Morning Links -- Part II; Unemployment Claims Higher; Last Week's Numbers Revised Up; Total Number Receiving Unemployment Aid Rose; "That Could Bode Well For Job Growth in March." -- Reuters

Updates

March 22, 2013: Los Angeles County unemployment rises to 10.4%.  And the spin: "Despite the uptick from 10.3% in December, the county appears poised for steady improvement this year along with the rest of California, economists say."

Later, 9:57 am: the market opens significantly lower; obviously investors can see through this. The good news, CVX hit a new high yesterday and is higher today (at least for the moment).  

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site; do not make any investment decisions based on what you read, or think you read, at this site.

Original Post 

So, unemployment claims RISE this past week; the previous week numbers were revised UPWARD, and the total number of folks receiving unemployment aid ROSE, and this is the Yahoo/Reuters headline:


I can't make this stuff up. Bottom line: unemployment claims rise -- again.

Let's see how they spin this story. From Reuters:
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week, but a trend reading dropped to its lowest in five years and pointed to ongoing healing in the labor market. [opinion]
The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000, which was less than analysts had expected. [fact]
The four-week moving average for new claims, a measure of labor market trends, fell 7,500 to 339,750, the lowest level since February 2008. [fact]
That could bode well for job growth in March. [opinion]
Past performance an indicator for future numbers? Okay.

Buried at the very end of the article, last week's numbers revised upwards and total number on aid rose:
The prior week's claims figure was revised to show 2,000 more applications than previously reported. [fact; also note how poorly that sentence is written to avoid the word "upward"]
Last week, the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid rose 5,000 to 3.053 million in the week ended March 9. [fact]
But you have to read to the very end of the article to learn that it's not all so rosy out there.

The reporter who wrote the story: Lewis Carroll.

WSJ Links

Section A:
  • President Obama in Israel; no links; story everywhere; hasn't gone golfing yet (on this trip)
  • Op-ed: Supreme liberal washout; good news; Supreme Court struck down by a 7-1 margin on crazy Clean Water Act lawsuit; and in a lopsided 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against a lawsuit regarding class action suits; 
  • Op-ed: Cuomo's job-depletion plan: I don't know who's trying harder to increase unemployment: President Obama or Governor Cuomo but they are both doing a pretty good job. For Governor Cuomo he promotes higher taxes, higher minimum wage, and no natural gas fracking. Natural gas is bringing down CO2 emissions (significantly); fracking uses much less water than conventional drilling; fracking has been used for at least 40 years in the US; 
  • Op-ed: rotten tomatoes for a billion-dollar farm payout: my wife qualifies; she is Hispanic (half Hispanic, half Japanese) and she's female; and sometime between 1981 and 2000 she thought about applying for a Department of Agriculture loan but was sure she would be discriminated against, so she did not apply; she may now be eligible for a $50,000 payout from the US government for discrimination. I can't make this stuff up. 
Posted by at