SBE Council Chief Economist on Initial Jobless Claims

Today, Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), released the following statement in response to the latest initial jobless claims released by the Department of Labor:

"The second week in a row of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims coming in at 351,000 is a clear plus. That's the lowest level since early March 2008. And the trend, though uneven, has been positive since mid-September of last year.

"While moving below the 400,000 initial claims level is important, it must be pointed out that during periods of solid economic growth, initial jobless claims generally run in the range of 270,000 to 330,000. So, we still have plenty of work to do.

"Our economic recovery remains uncertain, uneven and under-performing largely due to an adverse policy climate for business and investment. To return to robust economic and employment growth, there needs to be a shift from anti-growth tax, regulatory and government spending policies to a pro-growth policy structure of tax and regulatory relief, and smaller government."