unemployment claims

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.

Far fewer people are seeking unemployment benefits than just three months ago %u2014 a sign that layoffs are falling sharply. The number of people applying for benefits fell last week to 366,000, the fewest since May 2008. If the number stayed that low consistently, it would likely signal that hiring is strong enough to lower unemployment.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week, but the figures were largely distorted by rare snowstorms that swept through the Southeast. Applications surged last week by a seasonally adjusted 51,000 to 454,000, the highest level since late October, the Labor...

Slightly fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the second drop in three weeks. That's a sign the job market is slowly healing. The number of people seeking benefits edged down by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Weekly unemployment...

Initial jobless claims dropped by 34,000 to 407,000, much lower than expected. The numbers suggest that the labor market is slowly improving, and nearing the point of reversing the negative trend driven by the deep recession.

Two consecutive months of sales gains among the nation's retailers may provide just enough confidence to trigger increased seasonal hiring this year. Even so, pre-recession hiring levels aren't likely.

For married couples of opposite genders, the downturn's inordinate impact on men has resulted in an increasing number of wives becoming the primary breadwinner. Surprisingly, many men don't mind at all.

The recent stream of modestly positive economic news means the Fed probably won't take any further action to stimulate the economy at its upcoming meeting. But nobody is calling the economy healthy yet.

A fresh batch of data show that the job market may finally have turned the corner despite last month's uptick in the national unemployment rate to 9.6%. Among them: Fewer initial claims for unemployment and a smallest monthly layoff total since June 2000.

There's been some jumping on the bandwagon by more people who now believe that by giving the unemployed up to 99 weeks of unemployment checks, we have fostered a climate where they have no incentive to get a job. The argument goes that if we just stopped giving these freeloaders money, they'd go...