Weekly Jobless Claims Show That Misery Persists

The Labor Department has released its tally on the weekly jobless claims and the net post-revision data does not show much.  The prior week’s reading was revised from 404,000 to 409,000 and the new reading is down by 6,000 to 403,000.  Dow Jones had estimates of 400,000.

403,000 may be a bit closer to 400,000 but the real issue is that this has to come down significantly for the unemployment situation to improve.  The four-week average fell by 6,250 to 403,000.

The army of unemployed measured by the continuing jobless claims rose by 25,000 to 3.719 million.  Weekly claims can come down, but no one likes to see continuing claims on the rise even if there is a one-week lag to the continuing claims data.

More of the same.  Weak jobs persist.

JON C. OGG