Unemployment Claims Basically Unchanged

Weekly unemployment claims fell by 6,000 to 462,000 last week, the Department of Labor reported today. The four-week average rose to 475,500.

Meanwhile, in the week of Feb. 27, California and New York both saw unemployment claims jump by the thousands (+16k for California; +12k for NY), attributed by the states to layoffs in the service industry. (Is not even bartending safe anymore?)

The number of people receiving emergency unemployment benefits—aka those unemployed long-term—dropped the week of Feb. 20 by 160,000, but there are still more than five and a half million people receiving these benefits.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting this Thursday, February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Michael Brito (Edelman Digital), and Tim Devane (bitly). Register now.