THIS WEEK'S JOBLESS REPORT – NO GOOD – AT 10:01 A.M. ET:  The jobless picture in America is just not improving.  While we have almost a year and a half before the election, Obama had better get this economy restarted, or he'll be calling the moving boys from Mayflower.   From Bloomberg: 

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, indicating little progress in the labor market.

Jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 428,000 in the week ended June 25, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a drop to 420,000. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls and those getting extended payments declined.

Weaker demand in recent months has prompted some companies to trim their workforces, adding to concern a cooling labor market will further restrain consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Federal Reserve officials last week retained record monetary stimulus to help the economy withstand a “temporary” slowdown in growth.

“The labor market is not making any material improvement,” said John Herrmann, senior fixed-income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston, who projected 429,000 claims in the latest week. “Consumer spending will be more constrained.”

COMMENT:  There are also surveys showing that an increasing number of Americans believe that this will be a permanent condition.  Psychology is basic to the direction of any economy, and the American psyche is going in the wrong direction.

June 30, 2011