Not yet an influential, substantial recovery. New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, but a rise in the four-week moving average to a six-month high indicated the labor market recovery will remain painfully slow. Via CNBC.

Yes, it still does. It went bad under the last administration, has been slow under the current administration, and looks as though it will be anemic for yet longer. A change of administrations, and a change of majorities in the House, were not themselves – nor should we have expected them to be – guarantors…

Each chart scarier than the one before. Via 10 Charts That Embody Everything That’s Wrong With The U.S. Economy.

For millions, 2010 was a difficult year. Foreclosures were at a record high in 2010, and more than 1 million people lost their homes, even as notices started leveling off during the end year. In total, there were nearly 2.9 million foreclosure notices filed during the year, according to report released Thursday by RealtyTrac. That…

The unemployment rate fell to its lowest point in 19 months in December, but the 103,000 jobs created fell well short of the tally needed to bring about a sustained recovery in the labor market. See, Weak Hiring Casts a Cloud – WSJ.com.

We are likely to find ourselves in the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression. The way out is to allow people to keep more of their own earnings. There’s a new unemployment report out, and it shows an increase in national unemployment to 9.8%, with the “broader measure of the unemployment rate,…