Maybe we should just retire the “green shoots” metaphor and admit we’re more or less wallowing in the mud right now. The latest employment report doesn’t indicate any improvement.

New jobless claims last week were up by 15,000 to 627,000. The four-week moving average stayed the same — 616,750. The only credible reason that might explain the jump is that there were some layoffs resulting from the end of the school year. Sorry, I know it’s lame, but it’s the best anyone can come up with.

I’ll just report the other bit of news. The Commerce Department said that the economy fell 5.5% in the first quarter as opposed to the initial estimate of 5.7%.

I think things will start picking up in the economy this summer but I don’t think employment is going to be one of those things. In fact, I think we might have a very serious problem providing meaningful employment for some time to come. That has lots of implications for not just the economy but the political atmosphere as well.

more: here