WakingTheBull

Originally Posted by WakingTheBull

Source: By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since early April, a sign that layoffs are easing and hiring may pick up.

Weekly applications dropped by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the fourth decline in five weeks.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 396,750. That's the first time the average been below 400,000 in seven months.

Applications need to consistently drop below 375,000 to signal sustained job gains. They haven't been that low since February.

The job market "is still weak but there are hopeful signs of some modest improvement," Steven Wood, an economist at Insight Economics, in a note to clients."

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Originally Posted by WakingTheBull

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SOURCE:BLOOMBERG
By Brady Dennis and Neil Irwin, Published: June 3

Behind the hard numbers in Friday’s dismal report on the job market are scared small-business owners, slashed state budgets, dried-up federal stimulus funds and a lingering uncertainty that has taken hold from corporate boardrooms to factory floors around the country.

Employers added 54,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said Friday, down from 232,000 in April. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent from 9 percent. That deterioration in the labor market marks only the latest in a slew of recent signs that the economic recovery is losing momentum.

By Annalyn Censky, staff reporterJanuary 7, 2011: 8:42 AM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.4% -- its lowest level since May 2009, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Businesses were hiring, adding 113,000 jobs to payrolls in the month. But the government continued to shed staff, cutting 10,000 workers from payrolls.



But the two previous months were better than originally thought. November was revised up to 71,000, while October was revised to 210,000, adding a combined 70,000 jobs to the 2010 total.
Economists surveyed by CNNMoney had forecast 150,000 jobs added during December, and 100,000 for November's revision.
Many economists boosted their predictions earlier in the week, after private payroll processor ADP released a shockingly strong report Wednesday, showing private employers added 297,000 jobs to their payrolls. ...

We said to expect this to be a catalyst to move the market higher........

Reported By:"
By Richard Simon
Tribune Washington Bureau

Lawmakers upbeat on extension of tax cuts, unemployment benefits


WASHINGTON — Top lawmakers predicted Sunday that a deal would be reached soon to renew the Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels and to extend unemployment benefits.

"I'm optimistic we'll be able to come together,'' Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told NBC's "Meet the Press." "

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On Aug 19 @ 08:30 we will hear unemployment continuing and initial claims report.

Originally Posted by WakingTheBull

Claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 last week.
That's slightly better than the 460,000 forecast by economists

Originally Posted by WakingTheBull

Video: Meltup Inflation