This article originally appeared in the Santa Barbara News Press on August 28.
The Department of Labor released the weekly unemployment claims numbers Thursday morning, and, as is often the case with Trump-era financial data, the media is emphasizing the most negative news and burying the good news.
And, as usual, there is good news. While initial claims are still over 1 million, total claims for traditional unemployment benefits are actually down, and way down.
Keep in mind that initial claims numbers show only new applications for unemployment insurance benefits. They do not show whether the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits has increased or decreased. Those numbers come out a week later than the initial claims numbers and can tell a far different story.
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