Jobless Claims Up in New Jersey

The latest news from the jobless claims front contains it's usual mix of good and bad news.

Weekly unemployment claims increased across the country last week by 13, 000 to a seasonally adjusted 380, 000. Here in New Jersey, new unemployment claims also rose for the latest week.

But economic analyst Patrick O'Keefe of J.H. Cohn emphasizes the while claims may be up here and nationally for the latest week, the overall trend continues to slowly move downward as job creation goes on.

And he says the rate of decline in the number of unemployment claims is likely to accelerate in the coming weeks as seasonal factors accentuate the longer-term slide in unemployment claims.