Jobless Claims Jump, but Trend Is Unclear
For the week ended May 15th, bad news in joblessness as initial jobless claims soared by 25,000 over the previous week, one of the largest jumps in months. The climb reversed much of the positive news recorded since early April. Economists point out that the jump does not necessarily indicate a trend yet, but are nervous nonetheless to see the recent positive news turn around. The last large increase in initial jobless claims, in early April, was assumed to have been a result of seasonal employment and holidays, but this jump does not appear to be influenced by such special factors, again making experts nervous. After the jump in early April, claims were at 480,000, they have now bounced back up to around 471,000. In slightly better news, continuing claims did fall by about 40,000, to around 4.6 million. An RBC Securities analyst reminded other experts that recovery is never 'in a straight line' and that some setbacks should be expected.
See "Jobless Claims Jump, but Trend Is Unclear", Sara Murray, The Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2010