Weekly initial jobless claims fell 10,000 in the latest week to 570,000 but remain unacceptably high as companies continue to trim their workforces. Claims are slowly headed in the right direction but progress has been painfully slow.
Continuing claims fell 119,000 to 6.13 million, but it seems more likely that the standard six months of benefits have run out for those who filed early in the year rather than the unemployed finding gainful employment.
The stubbornly high rate of initial claims is all the more frustrating because economic activity has begun to pick up, yet companies continue to trim payrolls. That is likely a sign that the recovery will be gradual or U-shaped (see L, W, U, V - The alphabet soup of economic recoveries).
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