The Economy Is Still Limping Along

Bloomberg News posted an article today about last week’s jobless numbers.

The article includes the following chart:

May12JoblessClaims

The article reports:

A jump in filings in New York state may reflect striking workers at Verizon Communications Inc., spring break holiday at schools or a combination of the two. Economists will continue to monitor claims data in the coming weeks before concluding that the labor market is taking a bigger step back.

 “New York accounted for most of the increase,” said Jacob Oubina, a senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in New York. “It’s not a clean read.”

Color me skeptical.

The article further reports:

A report last week showed that U.S. employers added 160,000 workers to their payrolls in April, the fewest since September and well below economists’ median forecast.

Another report from the Labor Department showed import prices rose 0.3 percent for a second month in April, largely reflecting a pickup in petroleum and food. While industrial supply costs increased, prices declined for consumer and capital goods made overseas.

I think we need a serious change in economic policies.