Lapse of U.S. Unemployment Benefits May Cool Consumer Spending

[Joanne98]

Source: Bloomberg

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Sharron Tetrault and her family have already decided to forego exchanging gifts this holiday season. Should her jobless benefits end, she may be forced to stop paying her utility bills or even rent.

Tetrault is among the about 1.2 million unemployed Americans the National Employment Labor Project in Washington says will lose their emergency and extended jobless insurance benefits by the end of the year should the programs expire as scheduled on Nov. 30. The resulting reduction in incomes may hurt consumer spending at the height of the holiday shopping period and restrain economic growth.

“If people are let off the rolls in November, it could impact holiday spending,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. Pandl projects economic growth would be reduced by as much as 0.4 percentage point from December through February should the benefits end.

The wave of voter discontent that will put Republicans in control of the House of Representatives next year may mean that debate over issues like extending the Bush-era tax cuts will take precedence in coming months, said economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Additionally, the lame-duck session of Congress is not scheduled to reconvene until Nov. 15 and legislators may take time off for Thanksgiving later in the month, making approval of any jobless-benefit extension difficult.



Read more: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a62EQ1I_bsXI

[wisteria]

1. The unemployed will once more been the victims of bad decisions and politics. n/t

[rfranklin]

2. The Republicans in their ideological fanaticism will grind this economy to a halt...

They almost succeeded in doing that under Bush. Now they will finish the job. And somehow claim they had nothing to do with it.

[groundloop]

3. "extending Bush-era tax cuts"... said economists at Goldman Sachs

Yeah, that's certainly going to help the unemployed, give 'em a fucking tax cut on zero income.

Apparently this is all the right wing press is going to talk about now - tax cuts for the wealthy. Reid and Pelosi should keep the Senate and House in session until the unemployment benefits are fixed, even if they have to eat turkey while they debate.

[elleng]

4. Another GREAT headline!

:sarcasm:

Lapse of unemployment benefits MAY cool spending!!! WTF! How about, 'Will SURELY...'

[atreides1]

5. This will be a test

There has to be Tea Party/Republicans who are currently unemployed, and will be affected should this program expire.

But at least they'll feel proud that they did the right thing in fighting Obama's socialist agenda, as they watch their families living in a homeless shelter, going hungry, and only able to get medical care on an emergency basis.

And this will test the resolve of those men and women!

[Sub Atomic]

9. Oh to hell with that. Let them live on the streets.

They don't want socialism? Fine. Then they can't take advantage of a socialist society.

[saigon68]

29. Living in a cardboard box---Yes that's the answer

[Beacool]

6. I'm just sick, SICK to death of politics.

And that goes for both parties. While the political Neros fiddle, people are losing everything they had and some are literally going hungry. All of this is happening in the wealthiest nation in the world.

x(

[LoKnLoD]

11. lol...

Wealthiest nation for the top 1-2%, the rest of us are just or just barely getting by.

[maxsolomon]

15. false equivalence. please tell us how the Democrats are fiddling.

this seems like a fairly cut-and-dried example of the republican strategy of intransigence. the benefits would already be extended were it not for them.

will the GOP continue to block everything in the lame duck session? probably not, because they know that ending those benefits, no matter how close it may hew to their precious libertarian priniciples, will get the middle class fucking pissed off like nothing in recent memory. they won't risk that. some last-remaining-scraps-of-reason GOP congresspeople will cross the aisle and the regressive idealogues will get to bloviate against the lazy unemployed.

or hell, maybe they do want to burn it to the ground.

but don't try and sell me equivalence.

[jpak]

7. the unemployed should get a job - I'm tired of being a wagon puller for these lazy bums!

:evilgrin:

[judesedit]

17. You must be pulling your own "wagon". There are like 100 applicants for every job posted. Where

have you been. Like you made your own way in this country. Cut me a break. It was either handed to you, or you stepped on a whole lot of other people to get it. You're too shallow to even try to reason with. Typical republican. A sorry state for America, that's for sure. Now people are going to see what REAL waste looks like.

[lunatica]

25. The poster's devil gif is the equivalent of a sarcasm gif

[ProgressiveLiberal]

20. Is there a sarcasm tag that I am missing ?

God I hope so because

#1 The unemployed pay their own insurance - I have been paying it for 30 years and i have EARNED my unemployment.

#2 You should be sick of the TRILLIONS given to wall street rather than a less than a tenth of that amount given to unemployment.

I hope that devil think in your response was some sort of sarcasm tag.

[lunatica]

26. You're right to guess that the devil gif is in lieu of a sarcasm tag

It's commonly used in DU by posters who are basically advertising they're trying to get a raise out of trolls.

[ShamelessHussy]

8. 'may'

:shakes-head:

[BuelahWitch]

10. No concern about how they're going to live, eat, feed their kids, etc.

But IMPACT HOLIDAY SPENDING?? EGADS who will buy all our overpriced junk from China?? WHATEVER shall we do?

*Shoulda thought of that before you shipped all the jobs overseas, idiots*

[hatrack]

27. Yeah, good thing the "journalist" in question has their priorities straight, huh?

:puke:

[coalition_unwilling]

12. Most pukes I kinow view unemployment compensation as a 'welfare program'.

They will not extend unemployment benefits under any circumstances short of Great Depression levels of mass unemployment (25% in 1933-34) and social displacement. Repukes in general are more than willing to see people suffer -- indeed welcome said suffering - under the theory that such suffering builds character or some such nonsense. It's a disgusting mindset and I trace its roots back to Reagan and the politics of middle-class resentment he fostered.

[judesedit]

18. The only comfort I find in this is what goes around comes around. It's the law of balance. Karma.

Yin and yang. Juat like they're building underground bunkers for themselves. When I say bunkers I mean total malls, condos, eto for the wealthy in case we get nuked or the weather from global warming bothers them too much. I say they may become mass graves for the lot of them. I just pray, if there is a God, He or She has this already figured out and the results will eventually be better for the majority and the planet over all. Of course, that will have to be AFTER the republicans go. I wonder how long it will take people to realize they've made a HUGE mistake. A day, a week, a month? Too late.

[coalition_unwilling]

19. I hope you can visit my blog (see my signature line) when you get a chance. I have a bit of

a vested interest in this topic, since I became unemployed at the beginning of October and am collecting unemployment while I look for another position.

The unemployment compensation is keeping my wife and me 'in the game' so to speak for the next few months. I hope within that time that I can secure another position, or I will then have to start drawing down my retirment funds prematurely. As long as I am receiving it, I can continue to look for a position in my field(s) at a comparable pay rate to my last position. Once I am no longer receiving it, I may have to consider taking a pay cut and a step or two down on the career ladder. It won't be the end of the world if that comes to pass, but in my case, UC is doing exactly what it supposed to -- providing a safety net while I transition to different employment.

[Demeter]

13. Then It's FRSP

liberte egalite fraternite! A la lanterne!

[DesertDiamond]

14. WHY do they keep doing this RIGHT BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS???

[judesedit]

16. Yeah. And if they're not extended, Americans will see their first mistake in voting the GOP into of

fice. Too late. The GOP will let you and your kids starve without batting an eye

[underpants]

21. "may" ??? we all know that unemployment pay is in the three stimulators of the economy

1.infrastructure
2. food stamps
3. unemployment compensation

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

22. Still out of work. This January, it will be one year. Over 100 applications. No job offers.

Tier 1 of extended unemployment benefits are going to run out this week. This sucks. One lady I who is out of work didn't even get off her ass to vote (and I'm sure this one lady would have voted for the Republicans...against her economic interests, of course).

I've talked to employment agencies, who put me in for jobs, but I've yet to get an interview (I'm in marketing communications). I have been networking and did get some freelance work. I'm reading up on starting my own consulting business, as it doesn't look like things are going to be turning around any time soon.

[Earth_First]

23. I see we've found today's "Water is wet" headline... n/t

[Dulcinea]

24. Big DUH!

I have been out of work since Feb. of 2009. I've lost track of how many jobs I've applied to, but can tell you that I've had exactly 5 interviews in that time. I have a degree & 20 years of experience in my field, & no one will hire me even part-time. I'm sure my age (45) & gender (female) are factors. Who wants a middle-aged woman when they can get a 22-year-old for half the price?

10% of this country is unemployed, & HOLIDAY SHOPPING is a bigger concern than that? Well, if that's what it takes to get UI extended, so be it, but it's a sad state of affairs when the jobless only get consideration when keeping afloat is tied to holiday spending.

[OlympicBrian]

28. Inflation may cool spending too

BEIJING - Consumers in the United States may have to pay more for Chinese products as exporters increased prices amid a rising yuan and higher material prices, partly triggered by US policies.
...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9549912

[NickB79]

30. 1 million Americans could be left homeless, and reduced consumer spending is all we care about?

Jesus H. Christ, how this country has fallen.