Initial Unemployment Claims Jump; Durable Orders Flat

Everybody was excited last week with the initial unemployment claims numbers. Too bad that was an anomaly; an anomaly that was "hinted" at by the mainstream media.

Today, back to reality. Free Republic is reporting:

The initial jobless claims supports this depressing reality. According to the Department of Labor, “In the week ending July 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 343,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 336,000. The 4-week moving average was 345,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 346,500. The previous week was revised up from 334,000.” 

And durable goods numbers no better:

Durable goods orders rose a smokin’ 4.2%! But ex-transportation, it was 0%. In other words, Boeing airline orders are keeping our GDP afloat. Expectations were for 0.5%.

And so it goes. The country is fortunate that the president is going to devote every waking second of the last 1,200 days of his presidency to working on the economy and employment. 

Here's the AP spin today's numbers. I didn't have time to read the whole article, but I heard the talking heads on the radio: they said the economy continues to percolate along just fine and that the rise in numbers is not to be taken seriously. Or something like that. 

Oh, yes, even this story said the same thing:

"Claims continue to signal no let-up in employment growth," Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note.

I can't make this stuff up. Who are they trying to kid. Unemployment claims go up and the response is: "no let-up in employment growth."

Last week: 28 states reported an increase in unemployment; 11 reported a decrease; 11 reported no change.