DEAD END – AT 9:15 A.M. ET:  In another sign that the American economic "recovery" is fading away, jobless-claim figures just released show no improvement over last week.  From Bloomberg:

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the labor market is making little progress.

Jobless claims were unchanged at 370,000 in the week ended May 12, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a drop in claims to 365,000. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls rose, while those receiving extended payments decreased.

The claims figures, reflecting dismissals, may raise concern payrolls will fail to pick up after employers in April added the fewest number of jobs in six months. The lack of a sustained rebound in hiring damps the outlook for consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world’s largest economy.

COMMENT:  The jobless-claims figures are published weekly.  The jobs-created figures are released monthly.  Our recent job-creation record has been poor, and getting worse.  We await this month's figures.  We must create 150,000 jobs each month just to keep pace with population growth, and we haven't been doing even that well.

Obama is running out of excuses.  Call the guys in Chicago.  It's time to pull a miracle out of the hat, or voters out of their graves.

May 17, 2012