Northwest Indiana Discussion

Oh no more bad news for ODS cons:
U.S. Jobless Claims Fall Sharply

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits for the first time plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline added to evidence that the job market is strengthening.

Weekly applications fell by 50,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted figure in more than six years. The four-week average, which smooths out fluctuations, dropped to 379,000. That was the second-lowest such figure in more than three years.

When weekly applications fall consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to push down the unemployment rate. A department spokesman cautioned, however, that volatility at this time of year is common.

Separately, the department said consumer prices were unchanged last month, the latest sign that inflation remains tame. Lower gasoline prices offset rising costs for food, medical care and housing.

The Consumer Price Index was flat in December for the second straight month, the government said. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core prices rose 0.1 percent.

Inflation appears to be peaking after rising steeply last year. Prices rose 3 percent in 2011, up from a 1.5 percent pace in 2010 and the most since 2007. But that was down from the 12-month increase of 3.9 percent in September.

Lower inflation gives consumers more spending power, which bolsters growth. It also gives the Federal Reserve more leeway to keep interest rates low and take other steps to strengthen the economy.

Many economists say inflation has peaked and that they expect the rate to decline this year. The prices for oil and many farm commodities, such as corn and wheat, have declined. That has brought down the price of gasoline and slowed food inflation.

The Federal Reserve projects consumer price inflation will fall from about 2.8 percent in 2011 to roughly 1.7 percent this year.

Give it up mr grape

Congrats to Seal Team 6 & The Commander in Chief.
So did this make your head explode mr. grape?

U.S. special operations forces swooped into Somalia on Wednesday and rescued two hostage aid workers after killing their nine kidnappers, a rare and daring raid in the Horn of Africa nation to free foreign captives.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/ ... I220120125

Great Job SEALs!!!

obama had nothing to do with it.

right
The Commader in Chief has nothing to do with high risk military operations.

Holy crap...Oh no
More bad news for the ODS Obama haters:

U.S. Jobless Rate Falls to 3-Year Low, Report Shows

By MOTOKO RICH

The United States economy gained momentum in January, adding 243,000 jobs, the second straight month of better-than-expected gains.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, giving a cause for optimism as the economy shapes up as the central issue in the presidential election. The Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of the jobs market uses a different survey, of households rather than employers, to calculate the unemployment rate.

Measured by both the unemployment rate and the number of jobless — which fell to 12,758,000 — it was the strongest signal yet that an economic recovery was spreading to the jobs market. The last time the figures were as good was February 2009, President Obama’s first full month in office.

The report sent stock-index futures up sharply on Wall Street before the opening bell.

Let me know exactly what part of this is going over your tiny little pinhead

bullshit, 1.2 million vanished from the labor pool last month.

400,000 the month before that.

that liar is twisting numbers.

there is no drop. in fact it went up.

but there is still idiots who believe this bullshit and you're one of them.