Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected

Can we call it a recession yet?

New filings for unemployment claims surged in the latest week to the highest level since September 2005, according to a government report released Thursday.

The Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits rose to 407,000 in the week ended March 29, up from a revised 369,000 claims in the previous week.

The last time claims were this high was in the week ended Sept. 17, 2005, just after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

A consensus of economists polled by Briefing.com had expected initial jobless claims to fall to 365,000 from the originally reported 366,000.

"There has been a slow deterioration in the labor market," Paul Kasriel, chief economist with Northern Trust, said. "We're starting to see a speed-up in this deterioration," he added.

The surge in jobless claims comes a day before the government's closely watched March employment report. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect that report to show a decline of 50,000 jobs.

The job market has suffered from the deepening economic slump. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that a "recession is possible," and that the economy could contract over the first half of the year.

Come on Ben can you please be straight with us? We are in a recession already no matter how you try to spin this. The American people are suffering economically but hey there is a silver lining to this. The illegal immigrants are going home. This should make every immigrant hating fool feel better. We have finally found the way to stop our illegal immigration problem. If we just kill the economy entirely they will all leave and Mexico will have to build a wall to keep Americans out.