Initial jobless claims fall, but continuing claims spike to 3+million

[swag]

from http://www.bloomberg.com

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fell by 6,000 to 336,000 Last Week
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to 336,000, the lowest in more than three years, suggesting improvement in the labor market, a government report showed.

Applications were the lowest since 316,000 in the week ended Jan. 13, 2001, just before President George W. Bush took office, the Labor Department said in Washington. First-time claims declined from 342,000 the week before last and have averaged 348,000 this year, down from 403,000 in 2003.

The slowdown in firings hasn't translated into new jobs as companies have relied on efficiency gains to keep up with demand. The Federal Reserve voted Tuesday to hold down interest rates to encourage corporate investment and job creation. Accelerating growth this year may lead to hiring as companies exhaust cost- cutting opportunities and productivity gains slow.

. . .

Jobless Rolls

The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits jumped by 47,000 to 3.064 million in the week ended March 6. Today's report covers the week when the department surveyed households and employers for its assessment of March payrolls.

[whistle]

1. I just did a quick calulation...

...and 336,000 new jobless claims per week comes to 17,472,000 per over 52 weeks who will loose their jobs for one reason or another. That's almost 15% of the people currently working who will have to go on unemployment status during the coming year. And it seems that the average time spent unemployed in this soft economy has been around 20 weeks. Wow, it is the economy stupid!:freak:

[Bromd]

3. Jobless

Considering I was 'laid off' at the end of Christmas. Officially for being off of a drawer count by 20 cents even though another manager with me (Who was also 'laid off' that day) In fact, they 'laid off' everyone in the store but the manager and her (eh-hem) Special Friends.

Try getting a job in this Economy, me, I'm going for at least trying to start my own business, at least then I can't be laid off by a big company for money saving purposes.

PS - I don't and have not qualified for unemployment due to the kind of jobs I have had.

[DiverDave]

2. Makes me want to hurl

the repukes claim that it's "turning around, just look at the numbers"
and of course it doesn't count all the poor slobs that have exhausted their unemployment.
Bastards.

[54anickel]

4. Why is it they don't give is a side by side report of initial claims

versus jobs created? They report jobs created monthly (21,000 gubbermint jobs last month) What were initial claims last month? They do give a 4 week average of initial claims.
I'm just curious. Has anyone here ever done this type of comparison?