Correlation Between Initial Jobless Claims and Federal Spending?

The Labor Market Picture in Review and Speculation on Whether More Federal Spending Would Improve Labor Market Measures 

Every week brings two new pieces of information to labor market observers – the initial and continuing unemployment claims figures.  Combining these high frequency data points with other indicators on production, consumption, and investment give analysts some inclination of where the labor market may be headed.  What did we learn about the labor market this week and what does it mean in the broad picture?

First on the initial claims side, seasonally adjusted figures came in at 366,000, an increase of 0.5...