Unemployment percentage improves (!) barely

Since this is the 200th blog posting since I went live last October to address friends, family and associates’ concerns about the (then) impending recession, it almost seems obligatory to talk about the unemployment rate and unemployment.

In the month of July there were 247,000 additional job losses. However, that number was below jobs added, consequently the unemployment rate fell 0.1% to 9.4%. Furthermore, the 247K of losses was well below analyst expectations. It will be interesting to see the financial market response. The stock markets have been mildly down over the last several days, probably due to a combination of profit-taking and also queasiness over the jobless numbers. Well relax Wall Street things are looking better.

On the blog I have been tracking this number diligently and recently loyal reader Nate and I exchanged several comments about unemployment. Specifically the analyst who tracks the unemployment rate had said that improvement in unemployment had to be cautiously evaluated because traditionally the auto industry has summer layoffs. In other words, the analyst was expecting a shoe to drop. However, that never materialized and hence, the improvement in the figures.

Though I have not said much about the “cash for clunkers” program – those several billion dollars may turn out to be one of the best investments the U.S. government has ever made.

Jason