Buried in yesterday’s weekly U.S. Labor Department report on how many people are on unemployment insurance in America a disturbing fact was revealed — in one week at the end of November, the number of people who were collecting unemployment benefits jumped by more than 300,000 — an almost 24 percent increase from the previous week.
While the number of people on unemployment insurance remains low overall, the most telling sign of a weakening economy is the inability of people who want a job to get one. People on unemployment insurance are not job hoppers who are typically ineligible as they left their job voluntarily, the massive gain shown in yesterday’s report is among those who are actively looking for a job and simply cannot find one. One week data cannot be considered a trend, but if the continued weekly claims continue to escalate in the weeks ahead, it would be a sure sign of a rapidly weakening jobs economy.
Four firefighters, two helicopter pilots and a contractor bulldozing a fireline have died in Colorado, Utah and Oregon this year. Fast-moving fires have burned…
