Jobless Benefit Applications Near 7-Year Low

[Purveyor]

Source: KWTX-TV News

WASHINGTON (May 29, 2014) The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to nearly the lowest level in seven years, a sign hiring may be picking up, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 300,000, which is just above a seven-year low reached three weeks ago.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 311,500, the fewest since August, 2007.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the drop suggests companies are cutting fewer jobs.

Read more: http://www.kwtx.com/news/business/headlines/Jobless-Benefit-Applications-Near-7-Year-Low-261125861.html

[taught_me_patience]

1. There is simply no way to spin this as anything but good news

Some DUers might come in an talk nonsense about labor force participation or long term unemployed, which has nothing to do with initial claims.

[whatthehey]

3. you called it.

Never fails. Everybody who posts an unemployment related topic really needs to post a huge bolded definition of what is being measured and how, because everybody seems to think benefits matter to all metrics. They do apply of course to one obscure metric of insured unemployed that nobody pays attention to, but they mean bugger all to both claims and UE rates, which get all the attention.

Nobody bringing benefits into discussions of either has any credibility, but they are legion.

[FloriTexan]

2. Just not feeling it...

I hope you are right and its good news; but I suspect its just more people losing their now expired unemployment benefits than employers cutting fewer jobs. I don't see where the report doesn't say its for "new" applications.

[Recursion]

4. Your suspicion was predicted and refuted in post #1, above

These are "applications", meaning people who are just trying to get unemployment benefits now, not "recipients" (though that number is also falling).

[Hosnon]

6. taught_me_patience didn't have to wait long.

Some people are just cynical even when things are objectively better.

[Kingofalldems]

5. Obama is a Communist and a Muslim.

Benghazi!