NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits stayed above 400,000 for the eighth week in a row last week, a sign of continuing weakness in the labor market.
In the week ended May 28, 422,000 Americans filed for their first week of unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said Thursday.
While that marked a 6,000 decrease from the revised 428,000 initial claims filed the week before, it was worse than economists' expectations for 413,000 claims.
Economists use initial jobless claims as a way to gauge the strength of the job market, but for the last eight weeks, the number has stayed stubbornly high above the 400,000 mark.
Even in times of robust economic growth, it's not uncommon to have initial claims tally in the 200,000 to 300,000 range. But many economists say once that number is persistently in the 400,000s, job growth is probably too weak to put a dent in the unemployment rate.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/02/news/economy/initial_claims/index.htm
Way to go Obama.
In the week ended May 28, 422,000 Americans filed for their first week of unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said Thursday.
While that marked a 6,000 decrease from the revised 428,000 initial claims filed the week before, it was worse than economists' expectations for 413,000 claims.
Economists use initial jobless claims as a way to gauge the strength of the job market, but for the last eight weeks, the number has stayed stubbornly high above the 400,000 mark.
Even in times of robust economic growth, it's not uncommon to have initial claims tally in the 200,000 to 300,000 range. But many economists say once that number is persistently in the 400,000s, job growth is probably too weak to put a dent in the unemployment rate.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/02/news/economy/initial_claims/index.htm
Way to go Obama.
