[Steven Scharf]

The title of this article in my local paper was, "Initial jobless claims fall back below healthy level" which implied to me that someone thought that 300K is a threshold we should not dip below. The first sentence of the article actually makes it unclear which direction the article is implying is good or bad for the economy.

Personally, I would say going as low as possible can only be good. But the first time jobless claims only tell one aspect of the information on the economy. I think it makes great headlines, but the number of total people unemployed and related to this the number receiving unemployment.

[skeeter]

But the four-week average, which smooths out some of the volatility, indicates that initial claims are still consistent with the solid job growth the economy has posted in recent months.

Then the total number of unemployed/underemployed must be dropping, right?

Right?

[JPG]

[Repeal The 17th]

...Initial jobless claims below 300,000...”
-
Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So lets sing a song of cheer again,
Happy days are here again.

[lacrew]

Nothing but great news for 7 years now...economy must be roaring.

[stephenjohnbanker]

We need “ cookthebooks.com “

[Bryan24]

300,000 Initial Jobless claims. If by “initial” you mean the first week you file, and you are no longer counted, then the numbers break out as follows:

300,000 X 52 = 15,600,000 people becoming unemployed every year.

THAT is a healthy economy?

[ClearCase_guy]

Is there any logic to any of these numbers? They just say whatever without actually worrying about the economy, how government policy may or may not be affecting businesses, or how people are getting by out in the real world.

I swear they just spin a big wheel and they reveal some number that serves as economic data for the next week or month or whatever.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

It's all roses and candy then...?

[GoldenPup]

Initial jobless claims drop back below 300,000

Bullsh!t, lies, and books-cooking...as usual.

[VanShuyten]

If you lose your part-time job, can you file for unemployment?