The last weeks of the Bush administration brought even more bad news for American workers:
The number of workers lining up for jobless benefits surged last week, while new housing starts and permits hit record lows in December, pointing at an acceleration in the economy's downward spiral.So, can the political pundits now officially agree that the "conventional wisdom" about the GOP knowing how to handle the economy is dead? R.I.P. It never was true, but the GOP sure convinced some voters and some pundits that it was. The new and accurate CW is that the GOP destroys the economy and obliterates the hopes and dreams of American workers.
First time applications for state unemployment insurance benefits increased to a seasonally adjusted 589,000 in the week ended January 17 from a revised 527,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
It was the highest level of initial claims since a matching reading in the week of December 20 and beat analysts' forecasts for a rise to 540,000 new claims versus a previously reported count of 524,000 the week before.
The last time claims were higher was in 1982, when they notched a weekly rise of 612,000.
Now, watch the same Republicans on Capitol Hill who helped Bush destroy the economy try to block Obama's efforts to start fixing the mess.
