Weekly jobless claims UP 25,000, Hey Geithner, do you still feel good about the economy?

Press release from the U.S. Department of Labor:
In the week ending May 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 471,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 446,000. The 4-week moving average was 453,500, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 450,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending May 8, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 8 was 4,625,000, a decrease of 40,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,665,000 (previously reported at 4.627 million). The 4-week moving average was 4,642,500, a decrease of 9,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,652,000.

Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) week ending 5/1/2010 came in at 5,101,246 a decrease of 94,788 from the prior week. Grandpa: likely reason is that people are simply no longer eligible and there is no indication that Congress will again extend benefits.

Tim Geithner on May 15, 2010:
...doesn’t think the European turmoil will hurt U.S. growth because “our economy is getting stronger. We’re seeing a lot of strength, improvement and confidence.”

By Ian Katz and Rich Miller
May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner expressed confidence that Europe will resolve the debt crisis buffeting the region and said the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand any fallout.

“Europe has the capacity to manage through this,” Geithner said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. “And I think they will.”

Suggested reading for Mr. Geithner...courtesy of the grandkids