So much for the "green shoots": U.S. Jobless Claims Rise, Total Benefit Rolls Climb

U.S. Jobless Claims Rise, Total Benefit Rolls Climb (Update1)
By Courtney Schlisserman


June 25 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week and the total number receiving payments increased, indicating the labor market may take longer to stabilize.

Initial jobless claims rose by 15,000 to 627,000 in the week ended June 20, from a revised 612,000 the week before, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people collecting unemployment insurance gained by 29,000 in the prior week, to 6.74 million.

Recent economic data shows some areas of the economy, such as housing and manufacturing, are seeing a smaller pace of decline, and the Federal Reserve said yesterday after a two-day meeting in Washington that the economy’s slump is “slowing.” Even so, companies have been loath to hire new employees, in part because they are waiting for sustained gains in demand.

“Job losses are going to continue,” Andrew Gretzinger, a senior economist at MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto, said before the report. “Maybe they will slow to some degree, but a resurgence of hiring is some ways away.”

Economists had forecast claims would fall to 600,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey, from a previously reported 608,000 a week earlier. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah1S8bp1DPiA

after exhausting their eligibility.

on a large scale? What happened to the FDR style work programs?