There's more good news on the macroeconomy out this week, as the number of people filing new jobless claims dropped to its lowest level since before the recession. The Labor Department said that 335,500 people filed for unemployment in the four weeks that ended on August 3rd. That figure - essentially a count of the number of people losing jobs - is the lowest it's been since November 2007.
Perhaps not coincidentally, one of the major consumer confidence readings is also getting stronger. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, although it's still in negative territory, is now at its highest level since January 2008.
That index, incidentally, has some serious divisions in it depending on which income level the respondents are at. While it's negative overall, for households whose income is $100,000 or greater, the confidence level has been in positive territory for more than half a year now.
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