3 Points on Jobless Claims

The number of new claims for unemployment benefits dropped a bit last week from the previous week's 26-year high. The Labor Department reported this morning there were 554,000 claims filed in the week that ended December 13--down 21,000 from the previous week's revised 575,000 claims.

Three points:

• On December's jobs report: The jobless claims data today, which show an increased four-week moving average of 544,750, are "consistent with about a 500,000 monthly drop in nonfarm payrolls," according to Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR. Last month, U.S. companies cut 533,000 jobs.

• On the drop in claims: The past week's decline was in line with economists' expectations. Jobless claims are still very high.

• On jobs in 2009: It will likely be months before companies stop bleeding jobs. We are unlikely, however, to see another monthly jobs report as ugly as November's. As I reported last week, Morgan Stanley economist Ted Wieseman thinks that we'll see losses of 350,00 to 400,000 jobs for the first six months of 2009--then some moderating.