Jobless Claim Surges! Against forecast.

"The number of initial claims in the week ending Jan. 16 rose 36,000 to 482,000," the Labor Department said. We're are getting so close to another gap down tomorrow. Xerox has cut massive headcount and reported positive on profits. All these markets doing well and real people getting hit needs to end aomewhere. Maybe tomorrow.

I went to a neighborhood meeting a couple of days ago and was shocked at the number of people who said they were unemployed and looking for jobs (or stopped looking)--about 50% were either unemployed or had a spouse who was unemployed and this is in an upper middle class professional neighborhood. I walked away feeling lucky--that in my line of work (I own a small education center) we have not felt the impact of this recession yet (we even had banner years in 2008 and 2009). Very sobering! That's anecdotal evidence, but I trust it more than government stats.

I went to a neighborhood meeting a couple of days ago and was shocked at the number of people who said they were unemployed and looking for jobs (or stopped looking)--about 50% were either unemployed or had a spouse who was unemployed and this is in an upper middle class professional neighborhood. I walked away feeling lucky--that in my line of work (I own a small education center) we have not felt the impact of this recession yet (we even had banner years in 2008 and 2009). Very sobering!

That's anecdotal evidence, but I trust it more than government stats.

I can understand fully. I had a similar conversation with another guy in dire straits the other day. The irony of the centuary was he said " I do hope the markets carry on improving so more people get employed." Unfortunately jobs are being destroyed so that companies can have better earning results to "improve" the market. I've got a stinging feeling it'll take killing some people with hunger to destroy this dreaded BULL!

maximization of profit works until it stops working..Marx had said capitalism may breakdown on its own contradictions

maximization of profit works until it stops working..Marx had said capitalism may breakdown on its own contradictions

Marx did not understand capitalism (i.e. free markets), and I fear far too many others do not either.

Large organizations are notorious for inefficiencies (thus the ease of reducing headcounts), as well as irrational bureaucratic decisions. The inhumanity of bureaucratic downsizing is an easy and gratifying target. Still, where the rubber meets the road, smart managers who are committed to excellence know that they need good people to produce the things that folks want or need to buy.

Mark

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.

Adrian Rogers