4.4 + 4.8 + ? = ...

From the AP:

More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first rise in three weeks and evidence that companies are reluctant to hire in a slow economy.

Initial claims for unemployment aid rose by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 462,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was only the second rise in two months.

Jobless claims have been stuck near 450,000 all year. Few employers see much reason to create many jobs, and some are still laying off workers.

Seems the AP can't add:

The number of people continuing to receive benefits fell by 112,000 to just under 4.4 million, the department said. But that doesn't include several million people who are receiving benefits under extended programs approved by Congress.

The number of people on extended benefits dropped by about 340,000 to about 4.8 million in the week ending Sept. 25, the latest data available. All told, about 8.6 million people received unemployment aid that week.

Ummm... 4.4 + 4.8 = 9.2 million, not 8.6.

So, add the 9.2 million to the many more people who are no longer receiving benefits, yet are still unemployed. Add to that those who are under-employed (part-timers who would much prefer to be working full-time but can't, and those who have received cuts in pay that diminish their income and savings/buying power). And what do you get?

Via Hot Air, this article/analysis will give you a clue:

...the U6 unemployment rate, which includes the unemployed, those marginally attached to the labor force (discouraged), and those working part time for economic reasons, at 17.1%. That is the highest point over the past year, and probably since the Great Depression...

...the average recession since World War II has been 10 months, with the longest previously being 16 months. The recession began in December, 2007, 34 months ago by now...

Based on the long standing history and rhythms of the American economy, we should have had a booming recovery by now. Even more so, since the deeper the recession the stronger the recovery. Real economic growth in the first 4 quarters of Reagan's recovery from the deep 1981-82 recession was a whopping 7.7%. Even the recovery under President Ford from the deep 1973-74 recession sported real economic growth of 6.2%.

But under President Obama we are already in another downward spiral, with real growth falling from 5% in the fourth quarter of 2009, to 3.7% in the first quarter of this year, to 1.7% in the second quarter.

Thomas Sowell, in the article, is quoted as stating:

No president of the United States can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives, and all taxes are voted into law by Congress. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress before Barack Obama became President. The deficit he inherited was created by the Congressional Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest spenders.

*sigh*

Remember, mid-term elections are less than 3 weeks away.