We have been hearing the news for weeks. The economy is strengthening and we should be seeing a growth in jobs this next quarter. Obviously, the US Government forgot to ask the American people what they thought of the current economy. Unemployment benefit claims surged last week to what the Labor Department is claiming as the highest level in the past eight months.
The actual spike was about 43,000 new applications for unemployment, which shot the total to 474,000 new unemployment claims. The Labor Department tried to shrug off the increase and say it had to do with spring break layoffs and other factors. However, this makes for the third increase in unemployment benefit claims in the past four weeks. The Labor Department has said that it has been a 23 percent increase in unemployment claims during those past four weeks.
Now, I'm not a math whiz and I don't remember much of my statistics classes; however, this all seems to me like an upward trend in unemployment claims. So, now add to the rising unemployment claims the rising gasoline prices and other scary economic news such as the unrest in the Middle East and your going to see slow downs in employers hiring.
The April jobs report from the Labor Department is due to be released on Friday and it looks like the unemployment rate is remaining at 8.8 percent. Yes, better numbers than a year ago; however no consolation to those of us still sending multitudes of job applications to employers who are so inundated by resumes they can't acknowledge yours.
Let's hope the Administration and Congress start to get their acts together and get a jobs bill of some type into the system soon. Pumping money into the economy starts with those who have jobs and are willing to spend that paycheck. Too many of us are in protection mode and are not spending unless absolutely necessary.
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