Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (43204)	1/13/2011 8:32:43 AM
From: TideGlider	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

DATA SNAP: US Jobless Claims +35K To 445K In Jan 8 WeekLast update: 1/13/2011 8:30:00 AM By Jeff Bater and Luca Di Leo Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week as a weak economy keeps the labor market from making meaningful improvement. Initial unemployment claims increased by 35,000 to 445,000 in the week ended Jan. 8, the Labor Department said Thursday in its weekly report. The previous week's figures were revised to 410,000 from 409,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected claims would drop by 2,000 to 407,000. A Labor Department analyst said the data might have been affected by the holidays and stressed that the four-week average of new claims is a more reliable indicator. The average aims to smooth volatility in the data. It rose more moderately last week, by 5,500 to 416,500. The 35,000-claim surge came two weeks after new claims had fallen below the 400,000 mark for the first time since July 2008, which was two months before investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and brought turbulence to financial markets. The labor market is showing faint signs of improvement. But the healing is slow because the economy isn't strong enough to create a lot of jobs. On Friday, the government reported the jobless rate dropped sharply to 9.4% in December from 9.8% a month earlier. Yet the report also showed employers increased payrolls by only 103,000 jobs. Consistent gains of around 200,000 a month are needed for lasting improvement. The Federal Reserve this week released its beige book summary of the economy, indicating the jobs market was too soft at the end of 2010, with virtually no upward pressure on wages. The Labor Department said in Thursday's report that the number of continuing claims - those drawn by workers for more than a week - plunged by 248,000 to 3,879,000 in the week ended Jan. 1 from an upwardly revised 4,127,000 the previous week. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. The unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance was 3.1% in the Jan. 1 week, down from 3.3% in the prior week. The state-by-state breakdown of new claims, which is also reported with a one-week lag, showed that Georgia had the largest increase in claims, 11,997, due to layoffs in the construction, trade, service, and manufacturing industries. The largest drop in claims the week ending Jan. 1 was in California, falling 13,694 with fewer layoffs in the service industry. -By Jeff Bater, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9249; jeff.bater@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones NewswiresJanuary 13, 2011 08:30 ET (13:30 GMT)