Jobless Numbers Indicate Painfully Slow Recovery in Labor Market

Duh

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week stayed in a range consistent with job growth and incomes rose in December by the most in eight years, mildly positive signs for a still-fragile economy.

Comments

[TexasRasta]

The question for me is, are people being paid to do more? If a company has 10 employees and fires 3, but gives a slight raise to the other 7, does that constitute a rising income? If the cost of labor was a $100 ($10 per employee) 3 get fired and the remaining 7 get a $q raise, the company's labor cost is now $77, a decrease of 23%. Is the net loss counted against the loss of pay to the recently fired employees? There is less money from spent by the employer and less people getting paid. Is this just another phony statistic?