Jobless Rolls Drop for First Time in Twenty Weeks

The Labor Department said that total jobless benefit rolls fell by 15,000 to 6.7 million, the first drop since early January. The continuing claims data lag initial claims by one week.

Meanwhile, however, new jobless claims continued to hit numbers above 600,000, with first-time claims for jobless benefits declining to a seasonally adjusted 621,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 625,000.

Unfortunately, for new claims, the lowest level in the last 14 weeks continues to be the 605,000 level reached five weeks ago. Further, the four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, rose by 4,000 to 631,250.

On Friday the Labor Department will release its unemployment report for May. Economists forecast a net total of 520,000 jobs cut last month, to add to the 5.7 million jobs that have been lost since the recession began in December 2007. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, is forecast to rise to 9.2 percent from 8.9 percent in April.