The U.S. Labor Department reported today that the economy continues to deteriorate for Americans out of work, with unemployment claims continuing to rise. Don't worry, though, Obama has a solution. Blame Bush!
Per the Labor Department press release:
In the week ending June 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 386,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 380,000. The 4-week moving average was 382,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 378,500.
To clarify, this measures the number of new applicants for unemployment benefits. The number of those receiving some sort of unemployment benefit – either at the state or federal level – remains at nearly six million.
In contrast, the total claims prior to Obama’s Great Recession averaged less than three million.
The news is particularly devastating for Obama as economists surveyed by MarketWatch had projected that claims would fall to 376,000.
The snail's pace of the so-called recovery has been a problem for a while now, a problem that seems to be compounding both economically and politically for Barack Obama since February. Per Marketwatch:
Claims fell steadily in the second half of 2011 and touched a four-year low in early February, but they turned higher shortly afterward and remain somewhat elevated.
This is certainly not positive news for the 215,961 unemployed Coloradans — and yet another reminder of how out of touch Obama was in commenting that "the private sector is doing fine."
Unfortunately for those looking for a job, this indicator is not the only one showing weak job prospects as the U.S. unemployment rate rose in May to 8.2%, which was the first increase in nearly a year.
We hate to beat a dead horse, but the bad news just keeps on coming.