U.S. applications for jobless claims fall to 201,000; lowest level in nearly a year

So, let's see - the economy is doing well, the least number of illegal immigrants in years crossed over in 2024, all the Trump lies were ... er ... lies.

Fuel prices are cheap here. Under $3/gal still. I remember seeing $2.79/gal a few days ago. If you are paying more, you need a better state govt.

Fires in California have very, very, little impact anywhere else. It isn't like power generation plants exist there.

To be fair, Xmas usually gets people working seasonable jobs. A few will be retained, but most will be fired shortly, if they weren't fired last week, since the season is over. This applies to low-skill jobs.

For people with skills, hiring begins in mid-January and goes into early March as corporate budgets start to flow for the year. I knew people who would get 1 yr contract work in IT and offer to leave just before Thanksgiving every year, then get hired back in January. Many corporations have an IT freeze from Thanksgiving - New Years, so they just don't need as many workers. For my friends, it was a win-win situation. They had time off over the holidays to spend with family doing all those holiday things and help make frosted cookies. The as the kids return to school, they'd return to work. Of course, as a contractor, the wouldn't be paid for the time off, but if you build in 6-8 weeks of non-pay into your normal hourly rate, which I did, this can work out well.

Of course, the economy is always bad for unskilled people. Sometimes their life situations caused it and sometimes their life choices caused it. Not much anyone can really do to help them outside their extended family. I don't see it as the Govt's job. People need to be responsible for their own situations.

Nguyen DangJan. 9 10:57 pm JST

too much cheap USD in circulation is making oil prices quoted in USD rising faster

And yet you continue to be able to get more Yuan for your dollar. Go figure.

Powell has to raise US interest rate again as US Indexes are down due to RISING INFLATION