unemployment

Easter to Blame for Unemployment

For the second straight week, the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits has increased, a bit of a downer after the whole 162,000 new jobs! excitement earlier this month. However, even though they blamed “volatility around Easter” for the increase in claims last week, the Labor Department again blamed the holiday (as well as César Chávez Day, a California state holiday) for the uptick this week, rather than any, you know, economic reasons. Presumably next week’s report will cite “volatility around Earth Day.” [Bloomberg via Awl]

Easter to Blame for Unemployment