Unemployment Claims Increase This Week

One of the main cornerstones of economic recovery is employment. Indeed, with unemployment claims increasing this week, it is little surprise that worries about the economy are once again coming to the forefront. Indeed, it appears that it is likely that there will be a jobless recovery for this economy.

The stock market appears to have become used to the state of the labor market, since the Dow is moving higher today. It's not much higher, but in a market that was expected to see a lower open, not to mention the fact that equities across the board in Europe and Asia are down, it is surprising that the Dow is higher -- especially since the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both on their way down.

With unemployment approaching new highs, it will be interesting to see how things progress. Unemployment is an important piece of data, and it looks as though it might slow economic recovery in the U.S. even more than it already has been.