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Seasonally-adjusted jobless claims dipped 6,000 to 462,000 for the week ending 6 Mar 2010. This is significantly lower than the revised 498,000 number we saw two weeks prior. Nevertheless, 4-week average jobless claims are still over 475,000. This number is actually higher than the previous week’s 470,500 average.

At least we are seeing some incipient [...]

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Social networks and the massive migration within China | vox
Wirtschaftswunderland China: Der Weltfabrik gehen die Arbeiter aus – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Nachrichten – Wirtschaft
Economic View – Rethinking the Government’s Role in Housing Finance – NYTimes.com
The Renter Roadblock – NYTimes.com
Glacier melting a key clue to tracking climate change
It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs
China wants [...]

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Initial jobless claims fell 29,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 469,000 from a revised 498,000 the prior week. While the fall is certainly welcome, initial jobless claims remain very high more than two years after the recession began in December 2007. Moreover, the four-week average is still quite elevated at 470,750.

The biggest point of weakness in [...]

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Detroit homes sell for $1 amid mortgage and car industry crisis | Business | The Guardian
Aides say Coakley will seek reelection as attorney general – The Boston Globe
Depression’s Upside – NYTimes.com
Bankruptcy looms, Greek PM warns – The Globe and Mail
400,000 Will Lose Jobless Benefits Next Week – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com
Scientists Discover Booze That Won’t [...]

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The February 2010 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® was released this morning. It indicated that the manufacturing sector was slightly less robust in February than January, with the PMI slipping from 58.4% to 56.5%. As 50 is still the demarcation between sector expansion and contraction, the data indicate that recovery continues apace in the manufacturing [...]

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A few words about the last link.  When I checked, there were 600+ comments on the post about the Washington Hospital Center firing nurses for the “gross misconduct” of missing work during blizzard conditions.  The comments were running 9 to 1 against the decision.  I applaud the outrage people are finally showing for the callous [...]

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The last feature on the list of links below is on CRE in Washington D.C. where the economy is fairly robust. If you know anything about these properties, you would agree these are not poor properties at all. The problem with them is not location or property maintenance; it’s the debt.  The properties were leveraged [...]

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The Department of Labor reports:

In the week ending Feb. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 496,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 474,000. The 4-week moving average was 473,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 467,750.

Bloomberg said economists had predicted 460,000. [...]

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The Woman Behind Greece’s Debt Deal – WSJ.com
Bailout Anger Hurts Geithner’s Public Image, Effectiveness – WSJ.com
BBC News – Judge backs Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch deal fine
Porsche May Struggle to Comply With U.S. Fuel Limits, FTD Says – Bloomberg.com
U.S. Tops Canada 5-3 to End 50-Year Olympic Drought – Bloomberg.com
Andrew Koch: [...]

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This came in via the U.S. Department of Labor early this morning:

In the week ending Feb. 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 473,000, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 442,000. The 4-week moving average was 467,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average [...]