The Unemployed are too Lazy to File for Unemployment

Yahoo Finance - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fewer Americans requested unemployment benefits last week, pushing the average number of applications over the past four weeks to the lowest level in more than two and a half years.

Applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 22,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 391,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third decline in the past four weeks.

The four-week average for applications, a less volatile figure, fell to 402,000. That's the lowest number since late July 2008 and a hopeful sign that the job market is slowly improving.

The downward trend in applications indicates that layoffs are dropping steadily. But economists are still unsure when employers will begin hiring enough to make a dent in the 9 percent unemployment rate.

So unemployment benefit requests have reached the lowest level in two and a half years. This is great news if it means that America is getting off its collective ass, taking a shower, and getting a job. I doubt it though. I'm curious if people receiving tax refunds over the past few weeks has anything to do with the dip in benefit requests. The unemployment rates are still embarrassing but lets hope that people are itching to get back to work. So dust off those suits and get out there and make something of yourself.