Job Market Turnaround in Full Swing
By Jimmy
Moore
Talon News
November 21, 2003
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- For the seventh week in a row, first-time jobless claims dropped, a compelling sign that the job market is finally catching up with the positive economic news in consumer spending.
For the week ending November 15, unemployment benefits fell by 15,000 to 355,000, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
Most economic experts are confident that the major layoffs have already happened and that the turnaround in the job market has already begun.
In mid-April, jobless claims were at 459,000. Unemployment claims over 400,000 generally means that the job market is weak.
However, there has been a steady decrease in that number ever since as employers have grown more confident in the economy as a result of the tax cuts passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush earlier this year.
Unemployment dropped to 6 percent as new jobs were created in October.
Talon News previously reported that the economy grew by 7.2 percent in the third quarter and that most economists believe the economy will increase by a modest 4 percent in the fourth quarter.
Economic observers say that the job market has traditionally been the slowest economic indicator to recover from a recession.
However, there is still some concern that the job market will continue to lag behind the rest of the economy as a result of jobs not being created fast enough, economists warn.
Talon News recently reported that the Federal Reserve will keep short-term interest rates at 1 percent throughout the first half of 2004 to help speed along progress with job creation.
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