The Atlantic
Unemployment Rate Falls To 9.7%, But 20,000 Jobs Were Lost?

The national unemployment rate declined in January to the seasonally adjusted rate of 9.7% from 10.0% in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate beat consensus expectations of remaining unchanged at 10.0%. But even though the national rate declined, 20, ( Read more... )

Every year we get benchmark revisions to prior years' data, as the government collects data that was previously unavailable, and/or for which only estimates were being used in place of actual data.

This Friday the BLS will release the net job gains/losses for last month, and the unemployment rate for that month. At that time they will also be ( Read more... )

First Four Consecutive Quarterly Contractions Since The Great Depression

( Read more... )

For those of you conspiracy theorists out there, at the end of this week the US government will release its benchmark GDP revisions, which will alter the shape of what we think we have known about the US economy going all the way back to 1929. This year, all GDP will be reported against chained 2005 dollars, verses chained 2000 dollars, as was the ( Read more... )

It appears that the oughts have been even weaker than we were told... And not only is GDP now at risk for a sizable downward revision covering at least the current decade, if not longer, but manufacturing output looks to have been overstated by a factor as large as three!

So much for Kudlow & Greenspan's Goldilocks Era of High Productivity Gains.

( Read more... )

Say, peoples. Let's hear your inputs and outputs! I know most members read at least a little bit of every post that goes up in this community. We have seekrit spies infiltrating your windoze! ;)

Here is a some summary posts of recession stories
of significance making the rounds this weekend:

File under: General Mopers
Bloomberg reports:
GM Fund ( Read more... )

GDP expected to be revised lower to show biggest loss since 1982

All the economic data "are on track to show that that the recession ... is getting worse with the floor yet to be seen," wrote Lori Helwig, an economist for Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

The week's biggest report, the GDP revision on ( Read more... )

Still waiting for the benchmark revisions to last year's employment data, but the Dallas Federal Reserve has been able to ascertain enough of how the benchmark revision is going to look for this state, and it's ugly. The Dallas Fed is now confident that Texas is in recession, and "likely" entered recession sometime between July and December of last ( Read more... )

Big Surprise!
(Not)

Just as many of us in this community expected, during the final three months last year the economy did indeed experience negative GDP, having just been revised from the original estimates that showed very anemic, but technically still positive, growth ( Read more... )