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March 18, 2010
Good Morning:
U.S. Jobless Claims/Political Environment
An article today reports
'U.S. jobless claims drop, but remain above levels that signal new hiring' -
click here.
Last week the number of
newly-laid off U.S. workers requesting jobless benefits fell slightly to a
seasonally adjusted 457,000, while the four week average dropped to 471,250 -
30,000 higher than it was January 1.
Initial claims are used to measure 'the pace' of layoffs, and an
indication of new worker hires.
Other reported statistics:
·
economists expect
annualized U.S. GDP growth to be in the order of 3% in Q1 2010;
·
the U.S. unemployment
rate remained at 9.7% in February; and,
·
those claiming
unemployment benefits increased slightly to about 4.6 million, but - I think
importantly - that doesn't include over 6 million more receiving up to 73 weeks
of extended benefits.
I have had discussions this week with American
friends - Republicans all - who as I read them express ever increasing
displeasure with the policies of the current U.S. Administration. Interestingly from my perspective,
infrequently do I find blame for the current U.S. economic problems to be in
any way related to the George W. Bush Administration. This, of course, makes little sense to me as I think it
crystal clear that President Obama is the inheritor of much of what
economically his Administration is attempting to deal with. My own disappointment with the current
U.S. Administration is that I think it is far to focused on Health Care and other
social issues - which I believe in the current environment ought to take a
distant back seat to U.S. job creation.
Based on the way things are going in the U.S. I currently think it very
unlikely President Obama will be re-elected in 2012, and I don't favour any of
what might be incumbents from either U.S. Political Party to do any better than
he currently is doing. All of
which leads me to my continuing refrain to both direct and indirect equity
market investors to 'be careful in this environment' and take more ownership of
your investment strategy and portfolio.
* * * * *
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Best Regards,
Ian R. Campbell
President
StockResearchPortal.com
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