What recovery? Unemployment shoots past 10 percent

[Dantheman62]

Here's some numbers pyrangello....

Annual Home Repossession Numbers Double
And Whopping 81 Percent More Americans Faced Foreclosure Proceedings; 2.3 Million In 2008

(CBS/AP) More than 2.3 million American homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year, an 81 percent increase from 2007, with the worst yet to come as consumers grapple with layoffs, shrinking investment portfolios and falling home prices.

Nationwide, more than 860,000 properties were actually repossessed by lenders, more than double the 2007 level, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing firm based in Irvine, California, which compiled the figures.

Moody's Economy.com, a research firm, predicts the number of homes lost to foreclosure is likely to rise by another 18 percent this year before tapering off slightly through 2011.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would vote Thursday on a request by President-elect Barack Obama to release the remaining $350 billion of the financial bailout fund to expand lending to consumers, small businesses and municipalities and to reduce the rising rate of foreclosures.

Obama's economic team lobbied for votes Wednesday night. His advisers offered assurances that the money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program would be spent differently than it was under President Bush.

Lawmakers who met privately with Obama emissaries on Wednesday said after the discussions that Obama would spend the remaining $350 billion of the financial bailout fund on expanded lending and reducing foreclosures, and would not use the money to help other industries.

Foreclosures - which keep breaking records going back 30 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association - are likely to remain well above normal levels for years to come, and that will continue to keep home prices from rebounding.

For the rest of the article...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n4722948.shtml

[Jacqui D]

There are now a million in one age group out of work in the UK these are the 17 -21 year olds.
There are more youngsters out of work now then ever known, with no job training of any sort no prospects, what does the future bring, more pensioners now refusing to retire because of financial situations, the older ones are working longer and the youngsters can't get a job anywhere.

[Dantheman62]

Recession Sparks Global Shoplifting Spree

By BRUCE CRUMLEY / PARIS Bruce Crumley / Paris – 2 hrs 8 mins ago

The global recession isn't just making jobs scarce and spending money tighter - it's also turning more people into thieves. According to an annual survey released Tuesday, incidents of shoplifting rose by nearly 6% over the past year, representing nearly $115 billion in losses for businesses.

And one of the more surprising findings: a growing number of new shoplifters are outwardly reputable, middle-class people who are walking off with French cheeses, quality meats, cosmetics, mobile phones, clothing and other goodies that they feel they need to maintain a quality of life they can no longer afford. (See pictures of people shopping on Black Friday.)


"People already feeling, or merely anticipating, the negative impact of recession have taken to stealing ... at the very time retailers also suffering from the downturn have had to cut back on security staff," says Joshua Bamfield, director of the Britain-based Center for Retail Research, which documented the findings in its annual Global Retail Theft Barometer.

"In addition to the usual criminals, you have lots of newcomers to stealing who figure they don't run much risk at getting caught, won't pay much of a price if they are and justify their action on the hard times we're all facing."


The researchers found that shoplifting - or what's euphemistically known as product "shrinkage" - jumped by 5.9% in the past year at the more than 1,000 retail chains the group surveyed globally. In previous years, the increase only hovered around 1.5% annually.

Though the problem was documented across all regions, the steepest increases occurred in North America (8.1%), the Middle East (7.5%) and Europe (4.7%). In terms of total losses, retailers in North America topped the charts at $46 billion, followed by Europe's $44 billion and $17.9 billion in the Asia-Pacific region. In North America and Latin America, store owners and employees were the leading pilferers; in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, it was customers who were swiping the most loot.

For the rest of the article...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599193794400

[Jacqui D]

Credit crunch crime wave: Theft, burglaries and fraud rise on the back of record unemployment
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

A recession crime wave has set in with a dramatic increase in theft, burglaries and fraud, according to new Government figures.
Soaring unemployment and dire financial straits have fuelled significant rises in bag snatches and pickpocketing.
Petty theft is up a massive 25 per cent, shoplifting up 10 per cent, drug offences up 6 per cent and child cruelty by nearly a fifth.
Burglaries are up 1 per cent to 284,000, the first increase in six years.
The British Crime Survey also revealed a staggering 313 per cent increase in fraud by company directors.

A recession crimewave has set in with burglaries, drug and knife offences all expected to rise, latest crime figures will show
Overall, fraud and forgery was up 5 per cent but those by executives soared from 198 cases to 818. Fraudulent credit card transactions are also up 4 per cent to 2.8million.
Murder cases fell by 17 per cent to a 20-year-low, with 135 fewer killings last year and attempted murders as a whole were also down by 7 per cent.
However, attempted murders using a knife is up 11 per cent and, although violent crime is down 6 per cent, rape of women is up 5 per cent.

More...
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Spain is the hot spot for lost and stolen cards for second year running
How to travel through the crunch
The survey, which included crimes not reported to police, claims overall crime levels are stable although there has been a 1 per cent rise in the risk of becoming a victim.
It suggests almost a quarter of the population - 23 per cent - could now be targeted by criminals.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson admitted some crimes were on the increase and that the recession was a factor.
'We are not complacent. As in previous years, we see changing patterns of crime and we know that during economic downturns certain crimes face upward pressure, which is why we've already taken action to tackle these head-on,' he said.
The Government would tackle the rise in burglaries and theft with 'tough, targeted policing' and continuing to put money into preventative measures.
He conceded statistics gave victims no comfort but said the Survey showed confidence in local forces is rising.
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said crime levels highlighted the need for more bobbies on the beat.
'If the Government ever listened to police officers up and down the country, then they'd cut their bureaucracy and paper work and get our police force back on our streets and into our communities', he said.
'That's how to beat any rise in the number of burglaries or any other crime.'
The figures represent a chilling reminder of fears expressed by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last years about a recession crimewave.
Last September in a shocking 12-page memo to Gordon Brown leaked to the Daily Mail, she predicted sharp rises in burglary and violence but less funding to put police on the streets to tackle the crisis.
'Our modelling indicates that an economic downturn would place significant upward pressure on acquisitive crime and therefore overall crime figures, it said.
It suggests similar economic conditions in the past, especially economic pressures and rising living costs led to a surge of up to 19 per cent in violent crime.
She also links economic pressures and rising crime to the appeal of far right extremist parties and racist attacks.
Official figures for the last three months of 2008 already revealed rises in 'acquisitive crime' including burglaries, knife-point robberies and pickpocketing.
During that quarter 75,600 burglaries were committed, a two per cent rise, and the equivalent of a family suffering a break-in every two minutes while drugs offences soared by six per cent.
Labour accused of 'massaging' knife crime figures

The Government has been accused of 'massaging' knife crime figures
Ministers were accused of 'massaging' crime figures today after it emerged more than 100 serious knife offences were committed every day last year.
Official figures showed police recorded 38,082 serious violent or sexual knife offences last year - amounting to 104 every day.
That includes more than 16,700 robberies, 369 rapes and other sexual assaults, 252 killings and 1,549 threats to kill - all involving knives or other sharp objects.
This compares to 25,013 in 2007/8 - an apparent increase of more than 50 per cent.
However, because the definition of what qualifies as a serious offence was changed this year, it is impossible to tell whether things are getting worse.
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said ministers were trying to 'cover up' the scale of the problem.
He said: 'It looks like the Government is trying to cover up the scale of the problem we face with knife crime, little wonder given its policies have failed to get to grips with the challenge.
'Massaging the figures on knife crime twice in two years is just an insult to the families of those who have been tragically murdered in knife attacks and who are campaigning for real action to get knives off our streets.
'Even ministers now accept they are being complacent about our law and order problems.'
Criminologist Dr Marian Fitzgerald added: 'I think serious violence is carrying on going up but they have deliberately presented the figures so you cannot tell this year.
'Figures on knife crime give no evidence at all that Government knife crime initiatives are making any difference.'
Last year, ministers launched a crackdown on knife offences as a string of high profile stabbings of youngsters prompted widespread public concern about knives in society.
The Tackling Knives Action Programme, which began in June last year, targeted 10 police forces with millions of pounds in funding.
But despite spending £12million and extending the scheme to cover six more forces, today's figures showed there was no change in the use of knives in violent incidents.
Despite a fall in robberies last year, to 16,701, the proportion involving knives actually increased by 1 per cent.
A Home Office spokesman said the changes to the definition were made to provide a 'more detailed' view of knife crimes.
He said: 'This year's overall knife figures can't be compared with last year's - they include whole new categories like ABH which weren't counted in 2007/08.
'For crime types which can be compared, like knife robberies and knife homicides, the overall total is down and provisional hospital admissions data published in June showed the number of teenagers being stabbed is falling.'

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0Wb0Nr2PA

[peaceandlove]

Hey Dan, a recent Gerald Celente Russia Today interview regarding unemployment numbers.

Gerald Celente-American Unemployment Rates Really 20% Plus

From: GuerrillaNewsChannel | November 07, 2009 | 2,739 views

Jobless rates in the United States rose to 10.2% for the first time in the past 26 years. Many experts like Trends Research Institute's Gerald Celente predict that the actual numbers are much higher and the unemployment rate is likely to climb

VIDEO (4:09): http://www.youtube.com/user/Guerrill.../4/hXJgg5eqZuE

[Ross H]

On SBS Australian World News, lastnight stated:


Unemployment Figures:

North Carolina 19%
Ohio 13.5%

1 foreclosure every 7 minutes in US...

Lots more info but certainly painted a dark picture.

Peace always.

[peaceandlove]

Job Losses Demystified

By Peter Schiff
View all 6 articles by Peter Schiff
Published 11/14/09

As the unemployment rate crossed the double digit barrier for the first time since Michael Jackson learned to moonwalk, President Obama announced that he will convene a "jobs summit" to finally bring the problem under control. Using all the analytic skill that his administration can muster, the President is determined to figure out why so many people are losing their jobs and then formulate a solution. That's a relief; for a while there, I thought we were in real trouble! In fact, the absolute last thing our economy needs is more federal government interference. If Obama really wants to know what's behind entrenched joblessness, he should start by looking at the man in the mirror.

Continues: (Updated link) http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=358