Jobless claims fall - remain high

Source: CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, according to a government report released Thursday. However the ranks of the jobless continued to swell.

The Labor Department said that initial filings for state jobless benefits fell to 554,000 for the week ended Dec. 13. That was a decline of 21,000 from the 26-year high of a revised 575,000 claims a week earlier.

A week ago, the government reported the highest number of jobless claims since Nov. 27, 1982 when initial filings hit 612,000.

But the reduction in filers "really was not enough to offset the significant gain we saw after the Thanksgiving holiday," said Andrew Gledhill, economist with Moody's Economy.com.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/18/news/economy/jobless_claims/?postversion=2008121809

Whoopee! 21K didn't file for unemployment.

Considering the fact that is very close to Christmas, those 21K might be working part time jobs, which makes them ineligible for benefits.

ONLY 554,000 jobless benefit claims were filed this past week. ONLY.