How on Earth Could This Be Unexpected?

Story today on jobless claims. Observations after the text:

WASHINGTON – New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.
The government said new applications for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 542,000 from a downwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week. That's much higher than Wall Street economists' expectations of 505,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
That is also the highest level of claims since July 1992, the department said, when the U.S. economy was coming out of a recession.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, was even worse: it rose to 506,500, the highest in more than 25 years.
In addition, the number of people continuing to claim unemployment insurance rose sharply for the third straight week to more than 4 million, the highest since December 1982, when the economy was in a painful recession.
The financial markets fell on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped about 160 points in morning trading, and broader indexes also fell.
The jobless figures come as the Senate is expected to vote Thursday on legislation that would extend unemployment benefits. The White House said President George W. Bush would quickly sign the bill.
The measure would provide seven additional weeks of payments to those who have exhausted their benefits. Those in states where the unemployment rate is above 6 percent would be eligible for an additional 13 weeks beyond the 26 weeks of regular benefits. Benefit checks average about $300 a week nationwide.

So, the numbers were a surprise to Wall Street analysts? The same baboons who drove Lehman, AIG, Bear Stearns and countless other institution either to liquidation or the arms of a government bailout? Haven't the views of Wall Street's vaunted analysts been thoroughly discredited by now?

The galling thing is that these "analysts" are still pulling down enough coin to choke an elephant while doing a positively Julio Lugo-like job. Meanwhile, good workers everywhere who are strong performers in their professions are looking for work.

It's capitalism gone mad. Markets are supposed to reward success and smarts. Our markets are rewarding failure and boobery. No wonder we're in this fix.

-- MJM