"What Fresh Hell Is This?" -- Dorothy Parker -- Unemployment Claims Jump; Had Expected To Fall

I saw the headline. It will be interesting to see what spin Reuters puts on it today.

I see Yahoo!Finance removed the headline, story almost immediately. Had to find it over at The Los Angeles Times where folks are just starting to get up. It will be interesting to see their spin. Oh, good. The LA Times says the horrible number says it is consistent with an improving economy. LOL. The four-week average rose, also.

Initial jobless claims rose last week, but remained at a level consistent with moderate labor market growth amid mixed signals recently about the strength of the economic recovery.

About 339,000 people applied for first-time unemployment benefits in the week ended Saturday, up from 331,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had projected a slight decrease to 330,000.

The weekly claims figure, a key labor market indicator, has settled in recent weeks to about 335,000 after the usual holiday season volatility. The four-week average rose 3,500 last week, to 336,750.

Economists say claims below 350,000 indicate moderate job creation. But labor market growth was sub-par in January and December, averaging just 94,000 net new jobs created, according to government data.

And that's the incredibly bad number an average of just 94,000 net jobs over the last two months. A minimum of 200,000 net new jobs are needed to suggest a "better" economy. Anything less than 200,00 -- and 94,000 is way less -- is a "stagnant" economy. And the two horrendous reports were back-to-back, and seasonally adjusted so you can't blame the weather for everything.