<!–:en–>U.S. INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL SHARPLY<!–:–>

Initial jobless claims, or the number of people filing unemployment benefits for the first time, fells sharply last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008. In addition, weekly applications fell by 50,000 which is the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted numbers in more than six years.

The news has added stronger evidence that the job market is beginning to pull out of its no to low growth mode that we’ve been experiencing for more than two years. For a good part of the last two years, initial jobless claims have hovered above the 400,000 mark until late in 2011 when they began their slide.  01.19.2012