In a bid to survive bankruptcy, Chrsyler is closing nearly 800 dealerships, a full quarter of the company’s dealers. The dealers themselves had no say. While bankruptcy may be a better long-term solution for Chrysler than continued government bailouts, the short-term will not be pretty. Car dealerships provide a lot of jobs and a lot [...]

While attending the Offshore Technology Conference earlier this week (on sponsorship by the American Petroleum Institute), one truth became very apparent: opening up the outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration would create a lot of jobs. Right now, our government is spending hundreds of billions in an effort to revitalize the economy, but [...]

This is actually good news since folks were expecting 620,000 jobs lost. Still, even if this begins to slow down even more, we’re likely to see double digit unemployment before this is all over. Because the unemployment rate is at 8.9% right now. Also, let’s not forget the the underemployment numbers… If laid-off workers who [...]

They were polled and that’s their number. Personally, I think 9.8% is a rosy prediction. More on that later. From USA Today: The unemployment rate will peak at 9.8%, according to their median forecast, up a full percentage point from the prior survey in January. Twenty-one economists predict the unemployment rate will top out at [...]

And Pontiac will vanish. The carnage continues… DETROIT – General Motors Corp. could be majority owned by the federal government under a massive restructuring plan laid out Monday that will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year and phase out the storied Pontiac brand. The plan, which includes an offer to swap roughly $27 [...]

First, thanks to Calculated Risk, here’s what this look like when put into historical context… Whenever I see a graph like that it makes me cringe, but what goes up must come down eventually. Now, the details… The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 4 was 6,022,000, an increase [...]

From The Department of Labor… The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 28 was 5,840,000, an increase of 95,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5,745,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,647,500, an increase of 146,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,500,750. So yes, 5.84 million [...]

Following up on my previous post about those awful underemployment numbers, Naked Capitalism agrees that the 15.6% number is definitely a depression type stat. However, Robert Reich says we’re now in a depression and we’ll need more stimulus… Capital markets may or may not unfreeze under the combined heat of the Treasury and the Fed, [...]

The most accurate gauge of the employment picture (referred to as U6) is getting a lot worse… One thing to take into consideration is that this graph does go back to 1995 so the fact that it’s going straight up like isn’t as scary as you’d think. Still, it ain’t good. This is due to [...]

Right now it’s the biggest one month drop in American history, and it’s up by about 50,000 over February’s record numbers. From Reuters: Private employers cut jobs by a record 742,000 in March versus a 706,000 revised cut in February that was originally reported at 697,000 jobs, said ADP, which has been carrying out the [...]

There have been a few bright spots on the economic front lately (stock market,

9,000 more jobless applications were added to the total, which had been revised upwards to 645,000. More numbers from Bloomberg: The number of people staying on benefit rolls rose in the previous week by 193,000 to a record 5.317 million. Employers ranging from United Technologies Corp. to AMR Corp., which owns American Airlines, have announced [...]

It makes sense that Michigan is getting hit the hardest, but check out which states are doing just fine… Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah and Louisiana are all under 6% and some of them are under 4%. That doesn’t bode well for getting much support from Republicans or moderate [...]

And given the trend of these numbers being revised upwards, February’s numbers will most likely be over 700,000 by next month. As I’ve said before, it’s getting worse and there are no signs that it’s going to get any better any time soon. From CNBC: ADP said on Wednesday that private employers cut 697,000 jobs [...]

The biggest economy in America is now suffering from double digit unemployment. So what about underemployment? Well, that’s probably closing in on 20%. Just thought you should know.

Much higher than expected.

Whether you think the stimulus plan is a brilliant idea or a dangerous waste of money, chances are, you wouldn’t mind getting your hands on a little of that $787 billion the government will be paying out. So, how can you cash in (in ways larger than the pittance of a tax break most of [...]

You want private sector job growth as a result of the new bill? This is an encouraging start: WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama says Caterpillar’s chief executive has told him the company will rehire some laid-off workers if the stimulus bill passes. The heavy equipment maker announced more than 22,000 job cuts last month [...]

Compared to now… The situation is certainly getting worse and there are no indications I’ve seen that it’ll get better anytime soon… The United States lost nearly 600,000 jobs last month, sending the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, the highest in 16 years, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday. News of the increase, up from [...]

January saw the largest one-month job loss since late 1974. Businesses eliminated 598,000 jobs. In the last 12 months, the nation has lost 3.5 million jobs, the largest 12 month job loss since records started in 1939. While the employment rate is still at a manageable 7.6%, the numbers of unemployed workers are rising and [...]