Quote:
Originally Posted by Claeren
Just a quick comment on the unemployment figures,
The fact the market is largely flat (so far) after numbers like that is astonishing to me. These are numbers coming in BEFORE 1-to-3 of the automakers goes into bankruptcy.
Also, the 530,000 jobs is bad, but a few hidden things to look at:
- 400,000 people 'fell off' of the list last month because they have given up looking for work. Years ago they were counted but they stopped so that the government could look better, these people are likely into the (tens of?) millions and are totally disfranchised within America. When counted it shows America is more hollow than it appears compared to past recessions.
- A lot of companies are quietly waiting until after Christmas to start layoffs.
- A lot of temporary retail jobs have been created before christmas, these will be gone in the new year.
- Canada's 70,000+ job losses would equal 700,000 in the USA. That is pretty significant and shows we are not by any means immune.
Claeren.
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This is because the markets are a forward looking instrument. While the enormous job losses are not good the markets were expecting worse. (IIRC the rate in Canada is now at 6.6% and the projection was 6.7%). The numbers are never perfect...but the other thing that the numbers include is people who have left one job and already have another one lined up.