NoJobSurvivor.com

UPDATED February 4, 2010

The number of new applications for Unemployment Insurance increased to 480,000 by 8,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 472,000, in the week ending 30 January 2010, the US Department of Labor reported today.

The 4-week moving average was 468,750, an increase of 11,750 from the previous week's revised average of 457,000.

Insured unemployment ending the week January 23 increased by 2,000 from the adjusted preceding week of 4,600,000 to 4,602,000. The 4 week moving average continued to decline, dropping to 4,617,500 a decrease of 51,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,688,750.

States reported 5,632,219 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Jan. 16, an increase of 281,442 from the prior week.

Click here for a larger graph of unemployment claims.

January 27, 2010  Howard Zinn, historian, author and activist suffered a heart attack and died while traveling in California Wednesday. He was 87.

Dr. Zinn, a former professor at Boston University was best known for his book, "A People's History of the United States", which presented an alternate view to how typical American history textbooks portray the American experience.

The book entered popular culture when it was hailed in the film, "Good Will Hunting". Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were neighbors and friends of Zinn growing up. "Howard had a great mind and was one of the great voices in the American political life," states Ben Affleck. "He taught me how valuable -- how necessary -- dissent was to democracy and to America itself. He taught that history was made by the everyman, not the elites. I was lucky enough to know him personally and I will carry with me what I learned from him -- and try to impart it to my own children -- in his memory."

He was also the author of "The Politics of History" (1970); "Postwar America" (1973); "Justice in Everyday Life" (1974); and "Declarations of Independence" (1990).

Zinn was a champion of activism during the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war and continued to inspire thousands to fight the status quo during the Bush administration. He was a remarkable man, and true citizen of democracy and he will surely be missed.

Read more about Howard Zinn.

New York Times Columnist and Economist Paul Krugman weighs in.

NoJobSurvivors say: Please Obama, heed this call!

Obama Liquidates Himself

Eric Lotke of OurFuture.org sets out to make sense of Obama's upcoming State-of-the-Union proposal. "Mostly, the new initiatives don’t create jobs. Doubling the child tax credit, limiting student loan payments to ten percent of income, expanding tax credits to match retirement savings – they’re just relief. They are designed to help underpaid or unemployed people to cope when they don’t have enough money. They don’t create jobs or generate wealth."

Read: Good Obama Middle Class Help. But What About Jobs?

Jobless Rate^* Increases Across 43 States in December

Forty-three states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, four states registered rate decreases, and three states had no rate change,^* the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Twenty-one states reported statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate increases in December. Louisiana and Mississippi experienced the largest of these (+0.8 percentage point each). The national unemployment rate dropped to 10.0 percent in December.