From Holden:

Holy Layoffs, Boomman! New jobless claims surged last week. The AssPress* (via the Times) blames George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. I blame my recalcitrant Bush Boom.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 17,000 last week to the highest level in two months, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The increase pushed claims to 327,000, a worse-than-expected showing that was blamed in part on a surge in filings by laid off workers who were not able to get to unemployment offices the previous week, when claims offices were closed one day for the President’s Day holiday.

The increase pushed the four-week moving average, intended to smooth out week-to-week fluctuations, to 312,500, up from 307,750 the previous week, which had been the lowest level in more than four years.

The increase in jobless claims, which pushed the level to the highest point since Jan. 8, took economists by surprise. They had been expecting claims would hold steady at the previous week’s level of 310,000.

*Yes, that’s one of skippy’s.