Claims Rose From Jobless Last Week

This article discusses the recent rise in newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits. Last week it reportedly rose by 18,000. Economists had estimated an amount that would drop to 435,000, but the actual reported amount of workers was 460,000. But the initial claims have dropped four out of the past six weeks, and many economists are claiming it should further decline as expected. Jobless claims spiked during the recession at 651,000 during March 2009. According to the labor department, the amount of people continuing to claim benefits for more than a week fell by 131,000 to 4.55 million. Unfortunately many are now receiving extended benefits for an additional 73 weeks after having used up the normal 26 week period for benefits. This article also states that just over 5.8 million people were receiving these extended benefits from data collected from March.