Weekly jobless claims dropped to a five-year low last week, surprising analysts. During the week ending January 19, applications for unemployment insurance payments decreased by 5,000 to 330,000, the lowest number since the same week in 2008. But this change matches similar patterns in previous calendar years, due to the challenges of adjusting data during the holiday period and at the start of quarters. One expert indicated that the numbers would rise again at the end of the month, saying, "The swings are attributable to the calendar. We're going to pay for this."

Bloomberg News:

A pickup in consumer spending last month may be helping employers look beyond the rancor in Washington over attempts to cut federal spending and trim the national debt. Nonetheless, an increase in the payroll tax at the start of the year has shaken household confidence, raising the risk that sales may cool.

“Away from the calendar swings, the numbers are getting better,” Jones said. “There’s an improvement in the labor market that is in fact going on."

Initial claims for unemployment benefits came in at 350,000 for last week--a 12,000 drop from the week before. This indicates a strengthening labor market and represents the lowest weekly figure since 2008. The number is down 8.9 percent from one year ago. Nineteen states sent in estimated data because the holiday affected data collection, so the figure may be revised upward next week. The four-week moving average, which helps smooth out inconsistencies in data collection was 356,750, down from last week’s figure of 368,000.

By Peter Sleeth, Special to ProPublica, and Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times

A strange thing happened when Christopher DeLara filed for disability benefits after his tour in Iraq: The U.S. Army said it had no records showing he had ever been overseas.

DeLara had searing memories of his combat experiences. A friend bled to death before his eyes. He saw an insurgent shoot his commander in the head. And, most hauntingly, he recalled firing at an Iraqi boy who had attacked his convoy.

The Army said it could find no field records documenting any of these incidents.

DeLara appealed, fighting for five years before a judge accepted the testimony of an officer in his unit. By then he had divorced, was briefly homeless and had sought solace in drugs and alcohol.

DeLara's case is part of a much larger problem that has plagued the U.S. military since the 1990 Gulf War: a failure to create and maintain the types of field records that have documented American conflicts since the Revolutionary War.

A joint investigation by ProPublica and The Seattle Times has found that the recordkeeping breakdown was especially acute in the early years of the Iraq war, when insurgents deployed improvised bombs with devastating effects on U.S. soldiers. The military has also lost or destroyed records from Afghanistan, according to officials and previously undisclosed documents.

The loss of field records — after-action write-ups, intelligence reports and other day-to-day accounts from the war zones — has far-reaching implications. It has complicated efforts by soldiers like DeLara to claim benefits. And it makes it harder for military strategists to learn the lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, two of the nation's most protracted wars.

Military officers and historians say field records provide the granular details that, when woven together, tell larger stories hidden from participants in the day-to-day confusion of combat.

The Army says it has taken steps to improve handling of records — including better training and more emphasis from top commanders. But officials familiar with the problem said the missing material may never be retrieved.

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201,000 private-sector jobs were added in August, according to a report released by the ADP on Thursday, a figure significantly higher than analysts anticipated. The number comes ahead of the U.S. Labor Department’s job numbers for the month of August due out on Friday, which has become one of the most-watched numbers this election cycle. A sampling of economists polled by the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch found that they expect the Labor Department to say that employment rose by 120,000 jobs in August, and that unemployment will remain steady at 8.3 percent. Also on Thursday, the Department of Labor announced that jobless claims fell to their lowest level in a month.

Health insurance giant Aetna's earnings soared to 73 percent in the fourth-quarter despite a decline in revenue. Wonder how that works? The company saw slight growth in membership, but the big gains are coming from insured patients who have been hit hard by the economy.

Fewer patients - even with health care insurance - can afford the co-pays and deductibles, so they're risking their health by skipping doctor's visits and hospital stays. Fewer claims to process and pay means more cash for the corporation.

So once again, the 99 percent - lose, the 1 percent - win.

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