“Not every single indicator is down, therefore the economy is fine!”

There are enough stats that you can find something positive even at the worst of time. Looking at one and ignoring the many others is foolish, at best.

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Decline

“Fewer Americans than forecast applied for unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies are reluctant to fire more workers even as the economy slows.

First-time jobless claims fell 9,000 to 365,000, from a revised 374,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The total number of people collecting benefits was unchanged at a four-year high of 3.073 million for the week ended May 10.

The figures signal that companies are responding to the current economic slowdown by cutting back on hiring rather than letting go of more staff, in contrast to previous downturns.”