In a rather surprising turn of events the number of people turning up for unemployment benefits slipped down by nine thousand last week, in contrast to the widespread apprehension that it would steadily grow. However, the total four weekly averages for unemployment claims increased to 3,72,500 up form the 3,00,000 the same here. These figures are the highest since 2004 and with the total number of people enrolled in unemployment benefits rising up to 3 million, the situation looks to be getting only grimmer.


In other related news, the Federal Reserve observed that the growth in unemployment would hover around 5.5% up from the current 5%. The Fed also projected the economic growth to be between 0.3%-1.2% this year, a cut below the predicted 2% at the beginning of the year. With interest rates also being slashed down on rather short notice, leading to fears that the economy may have toppled into a recession. However,, the current Bush administration is of the opinion that this will improve as soon as an estimated 130 million households spend their economic stimulus checks.