Investors and economists received a rather nasty surprise this morning when the Labor Department released its weekly data on initial claims for jobless benefits. According to the Labor Department, new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 19,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 479,000.
The government did note that some of the surprise increase (a small decrease was expected) may be attributed to difficulties the government has in adjusting for seasonal factors. The four-week average of initial claims increased by 5,250 to 452,250.
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There is too much noise on Wall Street, and it becomes clearer with each passing day why some of the best money managers and investors in the world choose to do their business from somewhere else.

