“Unemployment claims fall

By Blake Ellis, staff reporterMarch 18, 2010: 9:56 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance fell last week, the government said Thursday.

There were 457,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended March 13, down 5,000 from a revised 462,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report.”

        OK,…here is where I am confused. My understanding of the above information is that 457,000 people filed their (a/k/a “Initial”) FIRST claim for unemployment compensation, and that number of real people no longer had a job. Furthermore from the previous week, which had 462,000 people filed their first (a/k/a “Initial”) unemployment claim. In my mind the 462,000 last week, and 457,000 this week mean that in the past two weeks over  919,000 people were filing for the first (a/k/a “Initial”) time for unemployment,……..and you are telling me that the reduction of 5,000, people  in  week to week overall totals  is “good news”?

           Somebody esplane this to me, that’s clicking along at a rate of close to 2,000,000 people a month filing their “initial” unemployment insurance! And I should be encouraged because of the fact that 5,000 ( or 0.01%, one/tenth of a percent) are all that filed, that the recession is on it’s way to being over! Tell that to those 919,000 people who had to file for their intial unemployment from the past two weeks. I bet they are thrilled to death to know the recession is over,….oh yeah, and their families are probably doing backflips about the “good news” as well.

          Now I’m not an economist, but I am smart enough to know that until we get folks back to work, making “stuff”, be it burgers, washing machines or automobiles so they can get a paycheck again and go out and spend the money they make on the burgers, washing machines and cars made by other workers so business can prosper and grow and hire more people to make things we are not “recovering”.

        A “recovery” from a recession that does not include a massive ramp up of jobs for people is a delicate glass bubble, and one slip of the wrist can bring it all down.

Sure the stock market is roaring alone, but it isn’t the majority of the “people in our country saving and investing money”, it’s the banks and brokerages all playing a fancy “Texas Hold’em” with each other using the Governments (read as OUR) money.

          Much like those highly televised Poker Tournaments only one guy walks away with all the money, and somehow it will never be “the regular people” but the bankers, brokers, and unethical swindlers who got us into this place in the first place,…..but it is comforting isn’t it,….to know we are really(read as sarcastic) recovering now from the recession.

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