(no subject)

Hmm, the very same week that new, significantly more onerous unemployment benefit rules went into effect, we see this:

"The total number of people on the unemployment insurance rolls dropped for the first time since early January, the government said Thursday...."

Yes, they changed the rules to make it much more difficult to demonstrate your weekly job search efforts -- notably, the new rules require employers to whom you have applied that week to basically answer a questionnaire confirming your claim. If one employer is already overworked and doesn't want to play along, where does that leave you? And, wellywellywellywell, the number of people collecting benefits drop, and the government presents this as a sign that the job situation is looking up. Even as:

"...new claims for benefits rose slightly."

As layitlarge would put it: Fffffuckers!