According to your cartoon perhaps but then again...
Quote:
Jobless claims hold steady at elevated level
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance did not change from last week, remaining at an elevated level that indicates weakness in the nation's economy.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial filings for state jobless benefits rested at a seasonally adjusted 479,000 for the week ended Oct. 25.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected the number to fall to 473,000 from the initially reported 478,000. Last year, there were 332,000 Americans filing new unemployment claims.
The Labor Department reported that there were 7,400 unemployment claims related to the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas, down from the 12,000 such claims last week.
Ian Shepherdson, economist at High Frequency Economics, had hoped the fading of the impact of Ike would allow unemployment claims to fall.
Shepherdson said the fact that claims held steady shows a labor market in decline.
"There can be no question that the labor market is deteriorating; the only issue is the speed of the decline and the eventual peak in unemployment," he wrote in a note.
He said the national unemployment rate could reach 8.5%. It currently stands at 6.1%. ...
