Unemployment claims filed last week rose unexpectedly, coming in at 496,000, up 22,000 from the previous week.
Taken with other discouraging news released this week — record-low January new home sales and a slide in consumer confidence — the new jobless claims number describes a slow and uncertain recovery.
Forecasters had expected 460,000 new jobless claims to be filed last week
Unexpected, Unexpected, just like the fact that a group of polls who are so bush league that they can’t get a bill through congress with huge majorities can’t manage to win a dog and pony show even with the entire media behind them.
Considering that I think these bills are nonsense this is a good thing but how did these people ever manage to gain power when they are so poor at using it? As Barbara Espinosa quotes: A weak leader talks tough and passes the buck.
Oh and BTW. The word “unexpectedly” will disappear as soon as republicans have majorities that the numbers being reported can be blamed on.
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
it will be nice when all the out of work, liberal and conservative, bloggers find real jobs again and spend just a little less time tweeting & spouting opinionated nonsense.
If their ideas are all so great and they all want to take our country back, instead of seeing them at town hall meetings, the next organized rally or spouting the catch phrases they don’t understand the meaning of that they heard on television the night before. They should get off the computer chair, and go around their town and gather signatures for admission onto a ballot and run for something. Make a change for your town.
You are all like sports fans. You pay high tickets prices to watch a game, but while you are there you yell and scream and compalin about the how much the other teams players suck while your team is losing, or how you can’t believe he missed that throw or catch and your mother/sister/yourself could have made the play. By the way you just spilled mustard on your shirt.
Well now is the time. Do it yourself. You want to take your country back, well then get off your asses and do something about it.
Now that would be unexpected.
Ah but comish that is exactly what has been happening.
Do you think that the various bills out there would have been stopped or the political landscape would not be what it was without the various tea party groups that are “bottom up” groups making noise?
At CPAC I saw person after person who got involved exactly in the way that you described, unlike myself they have been gainfully employed the entire year and still found the time to do it.
And they are not stopping at protest, for reference see Patricia Sullivan of Fla (our interview with her is here).
What amazes me is the inability of this group to do what congress’ past going back centuries managed to do. Typing this now I think I know why, but it is still amazing to me.