According to journalist Jeff Bater of the Wall Street Journal new claims for jobless benefits significantly increased last week to their highest level since last summer. To read the full article click on the following WSJ link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576304823992479068.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories
This new data is kind of surprising to me since it, superficially, appeared that the jobs data was lethargically moving in the right direction. The unwelcome news may help to ease the pressure on our Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, to raise the prime interest rate it charged banks (due to inflation concerns because less jobs means less consumer spending and possibly less inflation) and it may even help to keep interest rates at bay for the coming fortnight.
Economic news regarding unemployment benefit claim filings for the United States US.