Stock market futures traders are responding with a shrug following continued expansion of the jobless rolls in America. I was surprised to see losses from two major drug manufacturers in overnight earnings reports, a sign that economic contraction is affecting all sectors of the global economy. By the way, the "unadjusted" new claims for the week were 617,289 new jobless claims -- just for last week!Futures are slightly higher as a result (see far right on chart). With stock futures moving moderately lower in overnight trading, I wouldn't be surprised if we see profit-taking today as a result. I may well be among them if stocks don't move higher at the open. I should also note that stock traders have successfully defended the Dow 8000 level over the past few days, and prevented the index from breaking through last November's lows.
From Marketwatch:
From Marketwatch:
U.S. unemployment lines stretched to the longest on record, the Labor Department reported Thursday, a sign that the U.S. labor market continues to worsen.
Continuing jobless claims rose by 159,000 in the week ending Jan. 17 to a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the most since the government's records begin in 1967. That is the same week the government surveyed hundreds of thousands of workplaces and households to gather information for the January employment report.
I would call attention in the above quote to the words "seasonally adjusted". These figures are changed by the government with the intent to smooth out the peaks and valleys. The real numbers are far worse! The "unadjusted" unemployment rate, according to BLS figures, is 13.5%!
