Jobless claims rise more than expected in US

HIGHLIGHTS

The government’s weekly jobless claims report were higher than expected for last week, with an increase of 9,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 429,000, following a revised 420,000 claims for the prior week. Forbes

The weaker than expected jobs data is a note that echoes the uncertain sentiment this week, which was capped on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s press conference after the month’s rate announcement was unchanged.

Bernanke highlighted the moderate improvements from last year in market levels and in jobs growth (averaging a gain of 180,000 a month), but he admitted that he was uncertain how long the current “soft patch” could last, and was also unable to say with certainty whether another round of economic stimulus measures may be used after QE2 ends next week, however he also didn’t give a very strong argument that the Fed had much left it really could do, but sit back and wait for the economy to start crawling ahead again. Forbes

This is the 11th week running that the jobless claims number has remained above the 400 thousand level. Today’s number is a reversal of last week’s report and takes us back to the negative upward trend that we have been consistently seeing since early April. Zacks

FACTS & FIGURES

Unemployment is currently at 9.1 percent, while the African-American unemployment rate is at record highs slightly over 16 percent. newsone.com

The official jobless rate in the United States is over 9 percent. Econpost

The U.S. officially hit its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on May 16, 2011. WSJ

The U.S. Treasury is borrowing $4.22 billion per day, adding to the current debt. Real Clear Politics

The U.S. budget deficit will hit a record $1.65 trillion this year, or 10.9 percent of GDP, according to figures in President Barack Obama’s 2012 budget. Economic Times

Somewhere between 15 and 27 million people, depending on how you figure it, remain unemployed. ABC