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		Home Page News You Can Use Jobless Claims Drop, But Labor Still Soft Part Two An upbeat outlook on earnings and the economy from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the world's biggest company by revenues, also boosted stocks. Wal-Mart said bigger tax refunds and a rebounding economy should propel consumer spending. "I'm encouraged about consumer spending, particularly driven by the higher tax refund and, eventually, from improvements in the job picture," Wal-Mart Chief Executive Lee Scott said in a recorded message. WHERE ARE THE JOBS? Claims for unemployment benefits have been below the 400,000 level normally linked by economists to a strengthening jobs market for 20 straight weeks. But hiring has remained anemic. Job gains have averaged just 73,000 over the last five months, well shy of the 150,000 new positions needed each month just to keep pace with growth in the labor force. Robert Brusca, chief economist at Native American Securities in New York, said a downward trend in claims evident in the second half of last year appeared to have stalled. "Stalling is not good because we still have so far to go," he said. The number of people on state unemployment rolls beyond a first week climbed by a sharp 106,000 to 3.19 million in the Feb. 7 week, the latest for which figures were available. Economists said the increase in the ranks of the unemployed tempered the otherwise positive tone of the initial claims report. Still, so-called "continued claims" are well off the lofty levels they hit in the wake of the 2001 recession. While lay-offs appear to have eased, the lack of hiring has confounded economists, and their job-creation forecasts have repeatedly been off the mark.     Back to Original Article: News You Can Use   Continue with: Stocks Set to Climb After Solid Earnings Euro Attempts Small Rebound on Dollar Euro Attempts Small Rebound on Dollar Part two Jobless Claims in U.S. Decline to 344,000, More Than Economists' Forecasts One step closer to hydrogen economy? The escaping price of natural gas Stock funds swell by $60 billion
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