The economy continues to improve:
The U.S. jobs market is showing signs of improvement and inflation remains low in the economy outside the energy sector, government reports on Thursday said.
The number of Americans filing an initial claim for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level since early February, the Labor Department said, a hopeful sign for job seekers.
Underlying inflation, stripping out volatile food and energy costs rose 0.1 percent in September, in line with expectations. Over the last 12 months, the core CPI has risen just 1.2 percent, the smallest increase since February 1966, the department said.
“By and large these numbers so far today show a strong economy,” said Pierre Ellis, senior international economist at Decision Economics.
First-time filings for state unemployment aid fell 4,000 last week to 384,000 from the previous week. The number was broadly in line with analysts’ expectations that claims would be 388,000.
“The jobless numbers were certainly encouraging. We got a decline and it suggests that the labor market is recovering,” said Parul Jain, Nomura Securities International.
It was the second week in a row that claims came in under 400,000. Economists say claims above 400,000 suggest a deteriorating jobs market.
Why does it always seem that bad news for Democrats is good news for the rest of the country?
*** Update ***
Of course, Atrios shows why he continues to be a dishonest, semi-literate hack:
Congratulations to the 384K new jobless, and the 6K who we missed last week.
Moderately good news, or at least not horribly bad news.
Kimmitt
1) Half of the country votes Democrat, roughly. Good economic news is good for them, too.
2) Good economic numbers were bad for the Republicans in ’96, for obvious reasons.
3) Stop turning into Misha. Or don’t, I guess.
Pootie Tang
We’ve had two whole weeks where the job market wasn’t deteriorating. Let’s party!
Joshua Martin
It’s fairly obvious to me that good economic news is bad news for the party out of power, at least in terms of political positioning, as it deprives them of the ability to say: The party in power is mismanaging the economy. Vote for us and we’ll fix it.
This truism applies to both Democrats and Republicans alike.
HH
Though I don’t recall any Republicans saying they will gain a seat whenever the Dow drops 100 points…
John Cole
Kimmitt- http://www.amiserablefailure.com/plugin/template/gephardt/220/*
Like I said- Why does it always seem like good news for the country is almost always bad news for Democrats. And, if you will note, I am clearly aware that Democrat voters are part ofthe country. I thought it was rather clear that my remark was aimed at Democrat politicians.
Stop turning into the pedantic Michael Kinsley.
Keith
I’m going to have to agree with Joshua Martin when he says that any kind of growth that can be used against the party in power is bad news for the opposite party. If the Democrats had the majority in Congress and there was a Dem President in office, then the Republicans would be milking the poor condition of the country in order to make a case for voters to pick them over the current President in office.
Yes, the situation in Iraq is getting somewhat better (so I’ve read in regard to terrorist-related arrests, the growth of freedom in regard to press and their new version of the dinar, etcetera), and the economy is growing slowly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for everyone but Democrats. Especially when the Democrats and Republicans alike are compiling policies for better job-growth, better foreign policies, and more.
When situations get better, it just means the opposing party can’t use it as ammo for criticizing anyone. And just because they can’t use it as ammo doesn’t mean it’s bad for them, it just forces them to be a bit more creative. This can be applied to either party.
John Cole
I don’t recall Republicans bemoaning the economy in the 90’s.
dwight meredith
Anything below 400,000 IS moderately good news or at least not terrible news as anyone who follows the reports knows. Exactly what is it that you think Atrios did wrong?
John Cole
A.) I over-react to everythihng Atrios says.
B.) The ‘congratulations’ to remark sets up for his moron readers (check his comments sections if you think I am just name calling) the assumption that there wss nothing but job growth during the Clinton years.
C.) It is, as you stated good news, and not at all horribly bad, moderately bad, or even slightly bad news.
It is as if I won the lottery and said ‘this is great, or at least it isn’t real shitty.’
Kimmitt
>I don’t recall Republicans bemoaning the economy in the 90’s.
…because they lacked the opportunity to do so, of course.