554,000
Friday, July 24, 2009
That was the number of new jobless claims for the week ending July 18. I love how the government and the media hastens to tell everyone that the number is "distorted" by heavy layoffs in the auto industry. This reflects the government's general view that the auto industry and the people who work in it no longer exist; their plight is a lingering nuisance that unfortunately "distorts" data. We can't have that. Not now, when the "recession" is over, the recovery is underway and we're going to 15,000 on the Dow. People need to get in line.
(NOTE: The United States is in the beginnings of a Great Depression. There will be no lasting recovery.)