The Whole Delivery

Chart from Calculated Risk : MB , Atrios ( all the posts ), and even Ezra put in perspective, though the first two don't provide any window dressing. And hell, add DDay in there as well.

Let the spin start : The unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent in January, and nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-20,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction and in transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and retail trade added jobs. To the demographics of race: In January, unemployment rates for most major worker groups--adult men (10.0 percent), teenagers (26.4 percent), blacks (16.5 percent), and Hispanics (12.6 percent)--showed little change. The jobless rate for adult women fell to 7.9 percent, and the rate for whites declined to 8.7 percent. The jobless rate for Asians was 8.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted. And not to be forgotten, the discouraged and down: Among the marginally attached, there were 1.1 million discouraged workers in January, up from 734,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently...

Photo from google.com In today's agenda , I linked the report of the unemployment rate reaching 7.2%, a 16 year high. Well, that tales only have of a macabre situation. The real number is 13.5%. How so you ask? Because that bigger number includes the whole bigger picture, adding the number of discouraged workers and those relegate from full time status to part time work.) To read the whole report, go here to the Department of Labor website site, and just look at U-6. (With huge thanks to SilverOz at the Kos.)

Photo from google.com(Will you be the next to lose your job, if you have any?) More embarrassing news to give to you about our corrupt and incompetent Treasury department: They still have no clue what is being done with the bailout money they have so frivolously given out : Late last month, Treasury issued a response that provided almost no new information whatsoever. As we noted, one paragraph appeared twice, in virtually identical form, in response to two different questions posed by Warren. Now this new report finds that the problem is a long way from being fixed The Panel still does not know what the banks are doing with taxpayer money. If you want to read the report in its entirety, here it is right here . Moving on, the debate on how big the stimulus plan proposed by Obama still continues. Paul Krugman still feels the stimulus package just isn't big enough despite Obama's appropriate tone of how dire the situation is. The bottom line is that the Obama plan is unlikely to...

Photo from themoneytimes.com Starling and scary , for those who may read this. Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply (-533,000) in November, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.5 to 6.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. November's drop in payroll employment followed declines of 403,000 in September and 320,000 in October, as revised. Job losses were large and widespread across the major industry sectors in November. Brutal. Absolutely brutal. But there is hope, and that hope comes from our future new president : "The 533,000 jobs lost last month, the worst job loss in 34 years, is more than a dramatic reflection of the growing economic crisis we face. Each of those lost jobs represents a personal crisis for a family somewhere in America. Our economy has already lost nearly 2 million jobs during this recession, which is why we need an Economic Recovery Plan that will save or create at least 2.5 million more jobs ov...