Wow! Jobless Numbers Rose 17,000; Most Concerning -- No Explanation; GDP at 3.1; Fastest Growth Since Late 2011 -- Happy Days Are Here Again

Jobless claims up. I remember how it used to be easy to find these numbers. Now a bit of searching. Link to BloombergBusinessweek. By the way, is it just me or does it look like Mr Bloomberg is setting himself up for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016? 

Remember: the magic number is 400,000

Wow! No wonder this was a bit hard to find. Reuters and AP hate to see these numbers.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines.

The Labor Department reports that a seasonally adjusted 361,000 people sought unemployment aid the week ended Dec. 15, from a revised 344,000 the week before.

I wonder what "they" will blame it on this week. I thought temporary holiday hiring was going to be "over the top."

The fact that "they" could not explain the significant jump in first-time unemployment claims suggests companies are laying off folks ahead of the ObamaCliff. And ObamaCare.

But there's always good news:

But the less-volatile four-week moving average fell 13,750 to 367,750, the lowest since late October, suggesting that the job market continues to grow modestly. Applications had surged after Superstorm Sandy, then fallen back.

Link to Reuters.com. 

GDP up due to increased government spending, said to be at the state and local level:

Government spending was revised to a 3.9 percent growth rate from 3.5 percent, boosted by a rebound in state and local government outlays. It added three quarters of a percentage point to GDP growth in the third quarter.

The rest of the story:

The U.S. economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter as exports and government spending provided a lift, but that boost is likely to be lost amid slowing global demand and a move towards tighter fiscal policy.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 3.1 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Thursday, up from the 2.7 percent pace reported last month.

It was the fastest growth since late 2011 and also reflected a slightly better pace of consumer spending than previously estimated.