Jobless Claims Take Large Jump Up; Orders For Durable Goods Fall

There was a 51,000-increase in the number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Employment and Training Administration reports.

It says that:

"In the week ending Jan. 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 454,000, an increase of 51,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 403,000. The 4-week moving average was 428,750, an increase of 15,750 from the previous week's revised average of 413,000."

And in another not-good economic indicator, the Census Bureau says new orders for durable goods fell by 2.5 percent in December from November, and have now declined in four of the past five months.

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