The number of people receiving jobless benefits dropped by about 148,000 for the week ending June 6, bringing the national total to around 6.7 million. However, the news is not necessarily all good. The drop could mean that employers are firing less even if their not hiring more (initial jobless claims continued to rise in the same week), but it could also represent an increase in the number of people who have been unemployed for too long and run out of benefits (many states have extended benefits for the recession, but the number of people unemployed for 6+ months is at a record 27%). Or it could be a combination of both. The data does not offer a reason for the drop, but does note that it is the largest drop in seven years, and is the first drop after 21 consecutive weeks of increases.
See "Number of people receiving jobless benefits drops", Annys Shin, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2009