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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (488014)	11/6/2003 8:50:12 AM
From: Bill	Respond to of 769668

Sad. Wonder why they didn't print the party affiliation of the 58%.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (488014)	11/6/2003 8:54:39 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769668

Hispanics (79 percent), African-Americans (75 percent), and women (68 percent) were among the groups most likely to say "I don't know" when asked to name at least one department within the current United States Cabinet.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (488014)	11/6/2003 9:17:29 AM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769668

Jobless Claims Plunge to Jan. 2001 Low

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (488014)	11/6/2003 9:18:20 AM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769668

Productivity Up 8.1 Pct. in Third Quarter Thursday November 6, 8:31 am ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The productivity of U.S. businesses soared in the third quarter, as firms managed to raise output at a pace not seen in over 10 years with only a small increase in the number of hours workers put in on the job, the government said on Thursday.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (488014)	11/6/2003 9:22:29 AM
From: jlallen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769668

Jobless claims at pre-recession level Last week's claims were lowest of Bush's presidency By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 8:38 AM ET Nov. 6, 2003 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - The number of new claims for state unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since the recession began more than two and a half years ago, the Labor Department reported Thursday. CBS MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS Cisco gains in pre-open, jobless claims bolster U.S. jobless claims fall to pre-recession levels Cisco shares surge on sales outlook U.K. lifts interest rates, more small hikes expected Europe trends higher behinds techs; ECB holds on rates Free! Sign up here to receive our Before the Bell e-Newsletter! TRACK THESE TOPICS My Portfolio Alerts Column: Economic Report Create Get Breaking News sent directly to your inbox Create A Portfolio \| Create An Alert The average weekly number of seasonally adjusted new claims over the past four weeks fell by 10,000 to 380,000, the lowest since the week of March 10, 2001, the month the nine-month recession began. The number of new claims in the most recent week ending Nov. 1 plunged by 43,000 to 348,000, the lowest since the week George W. Bush was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2001. The four-week average is considered a better gauge of the labor market than the volatile weekly number. The effects of a strike by grocery workers in California probably contributed about 10,000 at most to the decline in the most recent week, a Labor Department spokesman said. Some striking workers filed for claims in the prior week, adding to initial claims in that week, he said. A decline in claims was seen across the country, he added. Meanwhile, the average number of continuing claims for state unemployment benefits over the past four weeks fell by about 25,000 to 3.54 million, the lowest since April. The continuing claims figures do not include some 825,000 workers receiving federal unemployment benefits, which are available to unemployed workers once they exhaust their state benefits, typically after 26 weeks. The number of Americans who've been out of work longer than six months rose to 2.1 million in September, representing 23.2 percent of all unemployed workers. Both figures are highs for this business cycle. The jobless claims figures show significant improvement in the labor market in the past two months, with the four-week average of initial claims falling by about 30,000 over that time. However, the initial claims figures capture only the patterns of layoffs, not the trend in hiring. With the continuing claims figures still at high levels, hiring remains anemic. In September, about 57,000 jobs were added to U.S. payrolls, the government has said. That was the first increase since January, but falls short of the 150,000 to 200,000 new jobs needed each month to absorb the growing adult population. The Labor Department will report on the October employment situation on Friday. Economists expect about 56,000 jobs to be added in October, with the jobless rate expected to remain at 6.1 percent, according to a survey conducted by CBS MarketWatch. In a separate report that helped explain the weak labor market, the Labor Department said productivity surged at an 8.1 percent annual rate in the third quarter. Unit labor costs fell 4.6 percent. Employers are able to get as much work out of 953 workers now that they got out of 1,000 a year ago. Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of CBS.MarketWatch.com. cbs.marketwatch.com.