Jobless Claims: More Bad News

It is a sad commentary on how bad things have become when even the most pessimistic forecasts are found to be too upbeat. That’s the situation with the latest unemployment statistic. The jump in jobless claims was the worst since late 1982 at the bottom of what was then the worst recession since the Depression and managed to be even worse than most forecasters had predicted. Here’s the news from MarketWatch:
Unemployment lines longest in 26 years – MarketWatch

It appears that employers are rushing to cut workforces in order to preserve what profitability they can. I doubt we will se any discernible improvement in unemployment for months because the first quarter will continue to be one of retrenchment and cut backs. I expect the figures in January through March next year to be even worse than the last two months. After that it’s possible that things will start to level off somewhat.

Anyway you slice it this is not good news. Not a good start to the holiday season.