WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits fell by a scant 1,000 last week to 367,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 368,000 from 365,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had projected claims would total 365,000 on seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended May 5. The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, dropped by 5,250 to 379,000. Continuing claims decreased by 61,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.23 million in the week ended April 28. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. About 6.4 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended April 21, down 174,529 from the prior week. Total claims are reported with a two-week lag and are not seasonally adjusted.
Pressure on Spanish bonds abated Thursday, but investors remain worried about the fate of the nation’s troubled banking sector, while Greece struggles to put together a government.
Two of the last Treasury bond bulls stood up the other day and made their best case for the worst case. Their message: Don’t hate the long bond because it’s beautiful.
The most likely outcome is a more slippage, then a rebound over the next month. We need to watch that advance, if it occurs, closely because if it is anemic, it’ll likely be time to batten down the hatches for a terrible summer.
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