Confused, As Usual

Jobless claims dropped more than expected.

I assume jobless claims are tied with unemployment benefits claims -- otherwise, why would people even go to agencies to report they are jobless except to claim benefits?

If true, then, the benefits are starting to run out for 99-weekers. Thus, less folks would show up at agencies to claim benefits and the "jobless" numbers would go down.

I must be missing something. I don't think the jobless numbers mean much any more.

Update: someone came to my rescue and explained my confusion -- the numbers are for FIRST-TIME claims. I suppose at some point there are just no more people to layoff or fire; companies are down to bare minimum, I would think, with 11 million jobs lost.

With 11 million jobs lost in this recession, many not likely to return, when I see numbers of 1,000 or so up or down, that just doesn't mean much.

Corporate earnings, for investors, will be the story.