Good employment stats reported
Reuters (via CNN.Money) reports unexpected good news in today’s weekly Labor Department unemployment claims report:
The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless aid unexpectedly plunged 48,000 last week, the largest drop in more than three years . . .
Just 319,000 first-time claims for state unemployment benefits were filed in the week ended Jan. 15, the Labor Department said. Wall Street economists had expected claims to move down to 345,000 from the 367,000 reported for the prior week. . . .
The drop brought the four-week moving average of initial claims down 3,000 to 341,000, sticking close to levels it held for much of last year.
