JoblessClaims

The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits ticked down last week after dropping sharply the previous week, evidence hiring could pick up this month.

U.S. stock futures are higher with the government reporting that weekly jobless claims edged downward last week, suggesting that employers may accelerate hiring this month.

Slightly more people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. But the overall initial jobless claims level stayed near last week's rate, which was the lowest in four years -- and low enough to suggest the job market is strengthening.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008. The decline added to evidence that the job market is strengthening. Applications fell 50,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted figure in more than six years, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Employee concerns about layoffs have moved sharply higher according to a new survey by online jobs company Glassdoor. The percentage of those who are worried rose sharply to 22% in the second quarter - the highest since the third quarter of 2009.

Americans who are unemployed or underemployed are three times as likely to fall behind on their bills as those who are fully employed, according to a Gallup Poll released Tuesday.

Just call this week%u2019s labor report a wash: Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped 13,000 to 462,000, but continuing claims plunged another 112,000, and the trend in state-level claims continues to provide evidence that the period of layoffs is subsiding.

There's finally some good news to report on the job front. In January, the national unemployment rate dropped to 9.7%, the lowest since August 2009. And the news got even better last week when the Labor Department reported that there were 440,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended...

That's it, I've got to give up the sunny life in California and move to Massachusetts, where life for the unemployed must be like living the high life. In California, where I live and worked my entire life until being laid off in June, the unemployment rate is 7.7%. compared to the national average...