Jobless Claims Slide but the Summer Job Front Still Looks Grim

By Allison Jones | Mar 30, 2010

A new report from the Labor Department revealed that the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment fell to the lowest level in six weeks; however, this hasn’t stopped hiring managers from predicting a grim summer on the job front. According to a survey from SnagAJob.com, 47 percent of hiring managers don’t plan to hire any seasonal workers this summer.

These two conflicting reports could represent the confusion the economy is suffering as it pushes toward recovery – somewhat.

Jobless Claims Drop to 6-Week Low

According to the weekly report from the Labor Department, 442,000 initial jobless claims were filed the week ended March 20. This represents a 14,000 drop from the 456,000 initial jobless claims filed the week prior.

Economists from Briefing.com had expected the new claims to have fallen that week, but not quite as low as they did. They predicted the numbers to hit around 450,000.

While this is good news, the news has been better even this year (439,000 claims were reported in the week ended Feb. 6), which means the economy is still showing fluctuations in growth.

Seasonal Hiring Not Looking Good

Teens and young adults looking for work this summer don’t look to have too many opportunities according the SnagAJob.com survey.

With the unemployment rate still sitting at 9.7 percent, people still being laid off, jobless claims still high and only a little over half of hiring managers even thinking about hiring seasonal help, teens may find this summer that the remaining jobs will be taken over by more qualified adults.

Just a week ago, President Barack Obama signed the jobs bill into law with the hopes of providing more Americans with work in the coming year. We can only hope that the initiatives set forth will do the trick. With only a few opportunities rolling in, it may just take a miracle to get the economy back on track.

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