Why the U.S. Could Be the Best of the Worst Economies Once Again

By Kat Von Rohr, Managing Editor
World Currency Watch
www.worldcurrencywatch.com

Bloomberg is already guessing that more Americans lost jobs in 2008 than any year since 1945. They’re estimating 2.4 million jobs lost for 2008.

Of course, we won’t know for certain until the Bureau of Labor releases the official numbers for December later this week. Then we’ll be able to get the final tally.

Something to consider: The jobless numbers only count the number of Americans actively looking for work, so you could consider the official job numbers an estimate at best – and a flat-out misrepresentation at worst.

Not to mention, the Bureau keeps revising the numbers. In just the last few months alone, they revised the job numbers for September, October, November…and it’s just a matter of time before they revise for December. We’ll find out on Friday.

But funny numbers or not, Forex traders will be waiting to trade off the figure as soon as it hits the news, so this is one piece of data that’s definitely worth watching.

This morning, Jack Crooks gave his own thoughts on unemployment figures to his Money Trader subscribers. (please link to MT promo)

According to Jack, he’s more concerned with unemployment outside the United States. He sees unemployment rising in Eurozone and China significantly – which could name the U.S. (and the dollar) the winner among a bunch of loser economies once again. Here’s a glimpse at what he had to say:

“Yes, the U.S. economy is in trouble too. And it could get much worse for the U.S. as unemployment seems set to climb a lot higher. But keep in mind it’s all relative. And relative to the potential for a lot more pain elsewhere, U.S. financial assets could surprise.  That’s why I remain bullish on the dollar.”