Jobless Claims Ping-pong Back Up

This is exactly what’s been happening over the past month or so: claims fall to ridiculously low levels (lowest in 3.5 years!) and then spring back up.

The overall trend, however, has been one of improvement since September 2011, with the four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility, steadily declining from 422,000 or so to 380,000.

“The job-market recovery remains on track,” Scott Brown, an economist who forecast claims would rise to 380,000, told