Initial Jobless Claims Increase as Employers Slow Down on Hiring

Why do these two artistic graphs give professional analysts something to worry about? Because they represent the correlation of initial and continuing claims figures with the employment conditions, and this correlation is pointing in an unfavorable direction (more on this at the end of the article). Just as with every other Thursday, the Department of Labor released its advanced estimate of the number of individuals applying for initial and continuing unemployment insurance benefits. Whether overdone or not, initial claims are considered an important leading indicator of the direction of the economy, and...