Weekly Jobless Claims Go up but Still Below 400,000, Hound Finds 150,000 Jobs

Pasadena, CA -- (SBWire) -- 03/18/2011 -- The initial jobless claims for the week ending March 5 have gone up to 397,000.

This figure is an increase of 26,000 from the previous week’s initial claims which stood at 371,000. The overall four week average was 392,250. The four-week moving average is considered more reliable than the weekly average.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stands at 3 percent for the week ending February 26. The total number of seasonally adjusted insured unemployed was 3.77 million. The total number of Americans receiving benefits from all the programs was 8.77 million for the week ending February 19.

One of the reasons given for the rise in jobless claims is that claims generally rise one week after there’s a federal holiday. February 21 was President’s Day. Also some of the New England states reported more claims because of school holidays.

Barnes, CEO of job search engine Hound, believes that the weekly jobless figures do not reflect the true picture of the economy. “There are jobs available across the country and many businesses are unable to find enough qualified people. It’s just that a lot of people are not looking in the right places or are burned out from applying through the usual job boards.” Hound has been able to find around 150,000 jobs in the last seven days directly from employer websites.