Hope springs eternal at CNN, at least some of the time. Sure, the massively expensive Obama stimulus was a miserable flop. And extending unemployment benefits worked to extend periods of unemployment, as numerous studies have shown. Government jobs programs have failed for decades.
No matter. According to business correspondent Alison Kosik on CNN Newsroom today, a jump in jobless claims proves more government intervention is necessary:
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Kate, we've got a lot of negative news all at once, that's weighing down the markets right now. You know what, pick your poison at this point, we got unemployment claims. They rose more than expected, much more than expected, double what was expected. That's after all the optimism that was created from the previous week's numbers. We're inching back towards the 400,000 mark we've so much been trying to get away from. It really just shows that people still need a lot of help from the government because people are still being laid off.
Yeah, baby, Stimulus II, that's what we need.
Interestingly, the hike in jobless claims was mentioned in only one of the four hourly segments of CNN Newsroom today. Last Thursday, when the news was brighter on the job front, it was reported during the 9:00 AM program:
KOSIK: Yes, you know what? They (jobless claims numbers) are upbeat like the music here at the stock exchange. The unemployment claims report is definitely coming in much better than expected. It's the reason that we're seeing Dow futures up about 100 points. Wall Street did expect claims to rise. So, this is good news because they instead fell to 360,000 last week. It's actually the lowest level in almost three years.
On the 10:00 AM show, Kosik celebrated "a really positive jobs report on weekly unemployment claims" and noted, "We are moving in the right direction."
The 11:00 AM segment included Kosik's observation that "Analysts are saying it's a sign that we're moving toward a new threshold of 350,000."
On the 12:00 PM Newsroom, CNN business correspondent Christine Romans reported the "very, very good news."
And it was. But isn't it strange that when unemployment claims drop it's constantly newsworthy at CNN, but when they jump up it's worth mentioning only once in the four-hour long CNN Newsroom and then with the commentary that the government needs to do more?
At CNN, obviously Lindsay Lohan attending her plea-deal hearing is more important. That was covered twice on CNN Newsroom today.
