Jobless at 26-Year High

From Yahoo Finance: Jobless rolls at 26-year peak:

The number of U.S. workers on jobless benefits rolls hit a 26-year high last month, and it may head higher as a deepening economic slump forces a broad spectrum of firms to cut jobs.

BENEFIT ROLLS HIT 1982 HIGH

The U.S. Labor Department said the number of unemployed workers drawing benefits after claiming an initial week of aid jumped to 4.087 million in the week ended November 22, the highest since December 1982, from 3.998 million the prior week.

While first-time claims for benefits unexpectedly fell last week to 509,000 from 530,000, a four-week moving average of new claims, a better gauge of underlying labor trends, rose to 524,500, also a 26-year high.

The insured unemployment rate, a measure of the workforce receiving unemployment benefits, edged up to 3.1 percent in the week ended November 29 from 3 percent the prior week. This was the highest reading since September 1992.

The data did not bode well for the U.S. government's monthly report on employment due on Friday, with analysts forecasting employers could have reduced payrolls by anything between 250,000 and 550,000 last month.

The consensus of economists polled by Reuters is for a drop of 340,000 in non-farm employment and a jump in the jobless rate to 6.8 percent from 6.5 percent in October.

Less-comprehensive data on Wednesday showed U.S. private employers cut 250,000 jobs in November, the biggest drop in seven years, after eliminating 179,000 positions in October.

From Calculated Risk: Weekly Unemployment Claims:


Contributing to the labor-market gloom, a host of U.S. companies announced large-scale layoffs, including:
1. Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc, which is eliminating 12,000 jobs (4%)
2. Chemical maker DuPont, which is cutting 6,500
3. Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. said it will eliminate about 850 jobs (7%)
4. State Street Corp., the world’s largest money manager for institutions, plans to cut 1,700 jobs, about 6 percent of its 28,700 employees by March
5. Credit Suisse to cut 5,300 jobs (11%)
6. Nomura Holdings Inc. to cut 1,000 jobs (22%)
7. Belden Inc. to cut 1,800 jobs (20%)
8. Adobe to cut 600 jobs (8%)
9. NBC Universal to cut 500 jobs (3%)
10 Auto parts maker Hayes Lemmerz International to cut 1,700
11. AbitibiBowater, Steelcase, UTi Worldwide also unveiled job-cut plans