Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/27/2010 -- Initial jobless claims fell for the second week in a row in December. 420,000 Americans filed for jobless benefits for the week ending December 18.

This figure is slightly down from the 423,000 claims filed the week before. Although the initial claims figure fell slightly, economists say that the figure needs to fall below 400,000 continuously for few weeks to show a longer lasting dent in unemployment.

The total number of Americans on all types of unemployment benefits stands at 8.88 million for the week ending December 4. The unemployment rate still holds at 9.8 percent, or about 15.1 million Americans. One estimate says that the economy needs to grow by 5 percent for 12 months continuously to bring the unemployment rate down by just one percentage point. But the economy is expected to grow by only 3.5 to 4 percent next year.

Hound CEO A. Harrison Barnes believes that the economy is recovering slowly but people need to be at the right place at the right time to get the job. “We have seen an increase in job postings on employer websites but most people don’t realize what a rich source of jobs these employer sites are for jobs.” Hound has been able to find over 91,000 jobs in the last seven days on employer websites.