The following statistics were released today on the state of the US economy:

Initial jobless claims were 357,000 last week, down 6,000 from a revised 363,000 in the prior week.

Challenger’s job cut report shows a layoff count of 37,880 in March vs. 51,728 in February and 41,528 in March, 2011.

Chain stores are reporting retail sales numbers today. In general, sales are looking a little stronger than expectations.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to -31.4 in the April 1 week, up from from -34.7 the prior week. That’s a pretty negative number, but it’s still the highest in four years, which tells you more about how bad the last four years have been, rather than how good it is now.

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Dale Franks
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