Unemployment claims rise after a two-week decline

The Labor Department reported that, during the week ending Oct. 17, initial claims unemployment benefits rose from 520,000 to 531,000. This is higher than the rise from 514,000 to 515,000 that was predicted by analysts polled by Reuters.

Data indicates the economy was growing again in the July-September period after four quarters of declining output.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, White House economic advisor Lawrence Summers said the economy is definitely set for recovery, but that the job market would not show the positive changes immediately. However, the consistently high unemployment rates are raising questions about how sound the economic recovery actually is.

The recession that the U.S. has been in since 2007 has been the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the effects have been seen most noticeably in the job market. In September, the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, which is the highest it has been in 26 years.

Despite this, things seem to be leveling off a bit. According to the Labor Department, the four-week moving average for new unemployment benefits claims fell by 750 last week, putting the number at 532,250. It was the seventh consecutive week of decline for the four-week moving average, and was the lowest it had been since mid-January.

Long-term unemployment benefits claim numbers have dropped, as well. For the week ending Oct. 10, the number of people collecting long-term benefits went down by 98,000, putting the number at 5.92 million.

That was the lowest level since March. The four-week moving average of continuing claims fell 59,250 to 6.03 million, which is the lowest reading since early April of this year.

The numbers indicate that joblessness is improving, but it could also mean that those who are unemployed are simply exhausting their unemployment benefits.

People are optimistic that the numbers are showing an improving economic trend.

Written by Nicole Palmby