New Jobless Claims Drop Less Than Expected

The recent news over the GDP would, economists say, indicate the recession is over. If so, it's a jobless recovery, which many have already posited.

On Thursday, the latest numbers from the Labor Department showed the number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment insurance fell by 1,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 530,000. Unfortunately analysts, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters, expected a steeper drop to 521,000.

The four-week moving average of claims, which levels out spikes in either direction, fell for the eighth straight week to 526,250. This is its lowest level since early January.

In terms of continuing unemployment claims, that took a steep drop of 148,000 to 5.8 million, far steeper than expected. Continuing claims numbers lag new claims numbers by a week. However, many still consider this a jobless recovery, as many of these dropping off the rolls have exhausted their benefits, given up looking, or are underemployed.

In September, the last time the overall unemployment rate was reported, it rose from 9.7 percent to 9.8 percent, as employers cut 263,000 jobs. Analysts expect the jobless rate to reach north of 10 percent before dropping.

Some however, take the view that these jobs are gone forever. Until, and unless, jobs come back, businesses may see some recovery, because they have cut labor to the bone, but Main Street will not.