The Wall Street Journal examines the effects of unemployment.

Should Obama have predicted no higher than an 8 percent unemployment jump?

How long should unemployment benefits last?

What you need to apply for long term unemployment.

A new senate bill is in the works to extend unemployment benefits.

Wall street reacted to these numbers with stocks falling sharply. Stock futures also saw a sharp drop. The weak signs of economy recovery are faltering again. There is general sense that all is not really well with the economy.

Despite making smart profits companies are not hiring and in fact many are retrenching workers. The sluggishness of the labor market and the scarcity of jobs is putting a strain on an economy that’s trying hard to recover from the longest downturn since the Great Depression.

Numbers posted by US retailers for July show that sales are much below expectations. Everything points to people’s fears about unemployment and general economic climate is forcing consumers to cut back on spending.

Here are links to 5 articles

Weekly Jobless Claims Show Unexpected Increase

There was an unexpected increase in jobless claims for the week ending July 31st. Experts expected a drop in the claims. But, instead unemployment has jumped up by 19,000 renewing worries about the sluggish labor market. This is the largest unemployment jump we have seen since April when the claims stood at 480,000.

Initial Weekly Unemployment Claims Up to 479,000 But No Tier 5 Unemployment Benefits Extension for 99ers

This week’s latest data points to jump in the unemployment claims by over 19,000. 99ers are now excluded from these numbers and can claim no benefits. In the current job market in the US it is impossible to find a job.

Increase in Jobless Claims Weighs on Stock Futures

Stocks futures moved down on news that jobless claims have jumped up in the week ending July 31st. These numbers clearly rattled the stock markets as the expected at expected a drop in claims by around 2000 and number going down to 455,000 claims instead of jumping up to 479,000. This number is now the close to April 10 numbers of 480,000.

US jobless statistics: employment insurance claims up

Last week’s unemployment numbers indicate that more Americans are claiming unemployment benefits which means joblessness is rising and economic recovery moderating

New claims for jobless benefits rise to 479K

Last week saw a jump in jobless claims indicating that companies are still retrenching and hiring still remains week. Despite higher corporate profits and a recovering economy companies are not hiring .

US jobless claims rise, cast a pall on economy

Unexpected rise in US unemployment benefits indicates that economic recovery is still weak. The new numbers have cast a pall of gloom on the economy.

The scarcity of jobs is putting a strain on the economy’s fragile recovery from its longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression.”

It is predicted that the cut in the number of Census workers at the last phase of the population count resulted in the loss of 600,000 payrolls.  According to the Census Bureau, 144,000 workers have already been made redundant with a possibility of 200,000 additional cuts  in the near future as population count winds down, which in turn will further skew the payroll figure for coming months.

Economists predicted before the official government report due on August 6, that this will cause a significant drop in consumer expenditure for the coming months of this year. Last month proved to be a slower one for both manufacturing and service industry, as a result in the beginning of the second part of July the economic recovery deteriorated. According to Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairperson, joblessness is the “the most important” problem that economy is confronting.

The silver lining is, economists are saying that private market, which shows an employment increase of 90,000 in July, will be a much better estimator for unemployment in 2010 and for seven straight months factory payroll registered a steady increase. Also, the service industry is expected to show a steady expansion during month of July, in August 4 report of Institute for Supply Management, though the rate is expected to be a bit slower than that of June.

It is predicted by economists that the current unemployment situation would continue the ongoing trend of consumers saving more and spending less for the rest of this year.

Some related and helpful links:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-01/unemployment-rate-in-u-s-probably-rose-raising-risk-of-slower-spending.html

Geithner: U.S. unemployment could rise
Unemployment Probably Rose

Economic Rebound Slows

When are the Unemployment Checks be Sent Out?

Useful links and news around the web:

Some tips for the unemployed.

How to apply for unemployment.

More information about unemployment benefits extension.

Find out if you qualify for unemployment benefit extension.

Some future prediction for unemployment rates and the U.S job market

US unemployment at 9.5 appears to have lowered for now.

The effect bill H.R. 4213 will have on the upcoming elections.

Republicans try to stop unemployment extension.

Unemployment falls but part time jobs raise in the UK.

Unemployment rate has fallen in 39 states.

Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Highlights:

I have lived long enough to understand that the best time of your life is just after you realize that it’s not all about you. I have been a mother for six years and instead of pouring myself into their every need, I have learned that taking care of myself is the surest way of showing them how to take care of themselves as they grow and learn. My dream job is to become an Obstetrical Nurse. I am only one year away from becoming an LPN, which is one year away from being an RN. I came to this decision after I went through the experience of child birth myself. I found that there was a number of nurses lacking the compassion and tender care that is missing in people today. I feel like I am the kind of nurturing person that could help new mothers feel settled and hopeful before taking their precious baby’s home. – Susan Herrera

Cooking, cleaning, babies crying. Ever since I’ve been little all I’ve wanted to be is a housewife. I love the idea of staying home with your kids and think being a mom is an extremely important full time job in itself. It’s such a silly dream job to have, but is realistic for me. I love the idea of being able to wear aprons all day and not having to rely on someone else to watch my children. I also love mysteries so I guess a dream dream job would be to be a spy like Nancy Drew! I’m going to school to become a teacher however I still hope to become a housewife once I’m married with children! It’s what I think about when I’m overwhelmed with school. – Kellie Conklin

In the mid-‘80s, I attended several science fiction conventions with presentations by various studio publicists. In the days before the internet and Powerpoint, they gave updates on current movie and television projects complete with slide shows and sometimes behind-the-scenes video and film clips. I thought that would be the coolest job in the world, and I still do. I have gotten close – I worked for the Sci-Fi Channel when it was in development and I was able to attend some science fiction conventions as a presenter. I now work as the Marketing and Public Relations Director for a community theatre, but I still dream of working in the bright lights of Hollywood. – Auriette

Contest winner:  Amber Gibson

My dream job would be to travel the world as a freelance journalist and food critic. I would go on adventures to remote places in the world and try the most exotic and bizarre foods that nobody has ever heard of. I would have my work published in Travel + Leisure, AFAR, and National Geographic for starters. Occasionally I would even be invited to appear as a travel and food expert on shows on the Travel Channel or Food Network. Maybe i would get to be a recurring guest judge on Iron Chef! Eventually, I would become a B-list celebrity and be invited to dance in Dancing With the Stars and I would of course, win!

Have you ever felt like you do not belong in your current position?  What do you really want to do in your life?  Submit a short description of at least 100 words what your dream job is for a chance to win $15 cash or a $15 Amazon gift certificate.    Here are the ways you can enter:

1) Submit your entry as a comment on this post.

2) Write your entry as a post on your own blog and link here.  Old blog posts on the  same topic are welcome.

3) Send your entry by email to ineedajobnownet@gmail.com with the subject “My dream job”

All entries are  due by 11:59PM Pacific Time on 12/27/2009 and one winner will be chosen on 12/30/2009

Happy writing!

Official Rules:

No purchase necessary and no entry fee is required.  All entries must be original works written in English.  Plagiarized material will be rejected.  To be eligible, works must be at least 200 words typewritten on the topic “What is your dream job?”.   Entrant will retain all rights to their work but agree to let I Need A Job Now publish their entries in part or in full on the website.  The contest is open to all who have access to a valid email account.  Entries must be received by 11:59PM Pacific Time on 12/27/2009 and will be judged by an independent panel of judges.   There will be one winner and  the prize is $15 cash delivered by Paypal or a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate.   The winner will be announced on 12/30/2009 on the website I Need A Job Now at http://ineedajobnow.net

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