From: "Randy H" 

Had many in the unemployed not given up looking for work, the true number
is somewhere up around 7-8%.

"Mark"  wrote in message
news:41140de7$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>  The unemployment rate remains at 5.5% it's not likely to get any
> lower than that for any appreciable time (never has). Perhaps we've filled
> all the jobs we're going to?
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:41140765{at}w3.nls.net...
> > It appears that the terror alerts so liked by this administration seem
to
> be
> > affecting hiring decisions of corporations.
> >
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/06/business/06CND-STOX.html
> >
> > Stocks fell sharply to new 2004 lows today after a surprisingly weak
July
> > jobs report heightened concerns about a slowdown in economic growth. The
> > dollar dropped and bond prices shot sharply higher. Oil prices slipped.
> > The stock declines were across the board, with only a few sectors
avoiding
> > the down draft as the three main indexes dropped 1.5 percent or more.
Each
> > timed stocks tried to bounce back, more selling sent them tumbling
again,
> > leaving all three market gauges near their lows for the day at the
closing
> > bell.
> >
> >      Advertisement
> >
> >
> > For the day, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index dropped
16.73 points,
> or
> > 1.6 percent, to 1,063.97, down 3.4 percent for the week. The Nasdaq fell
> > 44.74 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,776.89, down 5.9 percent for the
week.
> >
> > "Corporate chieftains are telling me that they are scared about the
> > terrorist threat and it is weighing on hiring decisions and it is
weighing
> > on business investment decisions," said Richard Yamarone, director of
> > economic research at Argus Research.
> >
> > The July jobs report was supposed to be a cure-all, at least for the
> > economic worries, with forecasts of an increase of 240,000, following a
> weak
> > 112,000 in June. But the actual number was even weaker then the June
> report,
> > with only 32,000 jobs created in July, the lowest total since 8,000 in
> > December.
> >
> > "We thought the weakness was a blip, but it wasn't,"
said David Hegarty,
> > head of United States equity trading at Commerzbank Securities. "The
whole
> > move today is all jobs."
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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