That's 531,000 new jobless claims this week.
More people are dropping from the rolls or moving on to "extended benefits."
Many recipients are moving onto extended benefit programs approved by Congress in response to the recession, which began in December 2007 and is the worst since the 1930s. Those extensions add up to 53 weeks of benefits on top of the 26 typically provided by the states.
When those programs are included, the total number of recipients dropped to 8.8 million in the week ending Oct. 3, the latest data available, down about 50,000 from the previous week. That decline is likely due to recipients running out of benefits, rather than finding jobs, economists say.
I remember liberals complaining about GWB's "jobless recovery." Well, at least unemployment was still about 4-5%. Now we're told to get used to 8% unemployment.
It's not a recovery without jobs. Period.
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