Thursday, April 26, 2012

Economy Sluggish, Jobless Claims Remain High

And so the economy remains sluggish.
How do we know this?
Well, the new jobless figures are out and they're not good.
In fact, jobless claims barely changed. Claims fell by 1,000 to 388,000 in the week ended April 21 from a revised 389,000 the prior period that was the highest since early January, just released Labor Department figures show.
Forecasts had called for a drop to 375,00. That didn't happen.
Fewer layoffs are needed to lay the groundwork for more hiring. That isn't happening either.
The Labor Department revised the previous week’s figure from 386,000. Claims in the week ended April 14 were the highest since Jan. 7.
In fact, none of the figures look good. None of them.
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, climbed to 381,750 last week, the highest since Jan. 7, from 375,500.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose to 3.32 million in the week ended April 14 from 3.31 million.
And there's more: Employers added 120,000 jobs in March, half as many as in February and the fewest in five months.
The economic record of the Obama administration is dismal. And Americans know it.

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