Jobless claims rise, retail sales fall, foreclosures spike to record highs.

[Karmadillo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081301711.html?hpid=topnews
August 13, 2009; 11:39 AM

The number of people filing for unemployment last week rose slightly more than expected to 558,000, another reminder that despite other indications of improvement in the economy, the job market remains weak.

First-time claims increased 4,000 compared with the previous week, while the four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by 8,500 to 565,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That is still below what it was 18 weeks ago and suggests that initial jobless claims have peaked.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125016650493828937.html
AUGUST 13, 2009, 12:07 P.M. ET

WASHINGTON -- U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell in July despite the debut of the government's "cash for clunkers" program meant to jump-start the auto business and help turn around the economy.

Separately, U.S. businesses let inventories tumble again in June and got solid help from a surge in sales that cleared away some of the excess supply built up during the long recession.

http://www.businessinsider.com/july-foreclosures-spike-to-record-highs-2009-8
|Aug. 13, 2009, 8:56 AM

What happened to the green shoots home builders recently told us about? Foreclosures are worse than ever.

RealtyTrac: RealtyTrac the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its July 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 360,149 U.S. properties during the month, an increase of nearly 7 percent from the previous month and an increase of 32 percent from July 2008. The report also shows that one in every 355 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in July.

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Sure sounds like a turn-around to me.

[Karmadillo]

6. Mission accomplished.

nt

[CanonRay]

2. Yeah, but the DOW is up,

so we must be out of the recession. Right.

[Birthmark]

3. I love the smell of recovery.

It smells like...well, recession.

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Recovery is just around the corner..along with a chicken in every pot..

:woohoo:

[fasttense]

5. When I see made in America again on most of the things I buy,

is when this economy will turn around. Obama and our Democratic Congress just don't seem to understand that.

[robdogbucky]

7. Interesting contradicting stories on local news...

Economy Improving, But Jobs Slow To Come
Employers In No Hurry To Start Hiring Again
STEPHEN MANNING, AP Business Writer
Posted: 2:14 pm PDT August 11, 2009
Updated: 5:43 am PDT August 12, 2009

"WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers who have cut jobs over the past year are in no hurry to start hiring again just because the recession is tapering off.

From a North Carolina machine maker to an Oregon heating-and-cooling company, small business owners say they need to see several months of rising sales before they start adding staff..."

http://www.ktvu.com/money/20368646/detail.html


and then


Foreclosures Up 7 Percent In July From June
More Than 87,000 Homes Repossessed In July
ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer
Posted: 9:01 pm PDT August 12, 2009
Updated: 2:26 am PDT August 13, 2009

"WASHINGTON -- The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes rose 7 percent from June to July, as the escalating foreclosure crisis continued to outpace government efforts to limit the damage.

Foreclosure filings were up 32 percent from the same month last year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. More than 360,000 households, or one in every 355 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, such as a notice of default or trustee's sale. That's the highest monthly level since the foreclosure-listing firm began publishing the data more than four years ago..."

http://www.ktvu.com/money/20379546/detail.html


and

July Retail Sales Dip Despite Clunkers
Sales Fall 0.1 Percent
Posted: 3:23 am PDT August 13, 2009
Updated: 5:53 am PDT August 13, 2009

"WASHINGTON -- Retail sales outside of autos turned in a disappointing performance in July, underscoring concerns about the timing and durability of a recovery from the worst recession since World War II.

The Commerce Department said retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month, a much worse performance than economists had expected..."

http://www.ktvu.com/money/20381582/detail.html



Hmmmmmm.


Just my dos centavos

robdogbucky

[Skittles]

8. things are getting worse

those of us who live in the real world can see it with our own eyes