Thursday, February 5, 2009

Jobless claims accelerate to 626,000 Americans

The number of Americans filing for weekly jobless claims exceeded the worst projections of analysts and reached 626,000 for the latest reporting period, according to numbers released this morning.

The impact on the stock market is expected to be significantly negative today.

To go with the bad news on jobless claims, states such as Tennessee are expecting to run out money soon to pay unemployment checks. Tennessee pays one of the lowest benefit amounts in the nation, yet still is running out of money.

The federal government can step in, but it will charge Tennessee more for such help, which the state then must pass down in charges on employers that pay for their employees' unemployment insurance. Businesses can ill afford more costs.

It is a vicious cycle.

God save America. Truly.

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