January 19, 2012

Jobless Claims Take a Tumble

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We got some tentatively good news today:

The number of people seeking new unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell last week to the lowest level since April 2008, a signal that the labor market is continuing the improvement than began late last year. Initial jobless claims fell by 50,000 to a seasonally adjusted 352,000 in the week ended Jan. 14, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline was the largest in a single week since Sept. 24, 2005.

It’s only a single report, but it’s consistent with other improving economic news. If Europe can avoid a complete implosion, perhaps soon we will all be Smithians. The chart below, stolen from Steve Benen, shows the long-term trend.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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