Labor Department statistics released today showed a marked decline in initial jobless claims, extending a run of such declines.
Initial claims are an important barometer for layoffs and hiring. A 12K decline to 502,000 from the previous week, and a drop in the 4-week average to 519,750, is a strong indicator of improvement. The 4-week average is down 20% since the highpoint earlier this year, and initial claims look like those from the beginning of this year. Despite these facts, we are still well above the accepted 450,000 benchmark, which represents the point at which the labor market is theoretically adding jobs.
Continuing claims (which trail initial claims by a week) fell 2.4% to 5.6M, also beating out the expectations of market analysts. Congress has created the largest extension program to date for jobless claims, adding a total of 73 additional weeks to the base 26 weeks of benefits,
...
Tags for this Post:Adobe Systems Inc.,
AOL LLC;,
California,
Congress,
Department of Labor,
Florida,
Georgia,
Illinois,
Investing Lessons,
media technology powerhouse,
Michigan,
New York,
North Carolina,
Puerto Rico,
Small & Micro Cap,
Texas,
Wisconsin