Lowest number of unemployment Claims in U.S. since 2008

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• FILE - In this July 5, 2011 file photo, pedestrians with shopping bags make their way along Fifth Avenue in New York. The U.S. economy grew more slowly in the summer than previously thought because consumers spent less than the government had first estimated. But economists expect growth in the current October-December quarter to be stronger. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In in the latest sign that the economy is surging at year's end, unemployment claims have dropped to the lowest level since April 2008, long before anyone realized that the nation was in a recession.
Claims fell by 4,000 last week to 364,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight weekly drop. The four-week average of claims, a less volatile gauge, fell for the 11th time in 13 weeks and stands at the lowest since June 2008.
While the economy remains vulnerable to threats, particularly a recession in Europe, the steady improvement in the job market is unquestionable.
"The underlying trend is undeniably positive," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets. "I think everyone is starting to come around to the view that, yes, there is a recovery going on."end quote from:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/claims-lowest-since-08-job-205532553.html

For the U.S. and for the world in general this is very good news. So, despite the problems in Europe and a slowdown in China, the U.S. economy is starting to build up steam and to move ahead, even though sort of gingerly at first.