According to a government report that was released on April 7, 2011, claims for unemployment in the U.S. dropped 10,000 last week, and the amount of jobless people dropped as well.

In the week that ended April 2, there were 382,000 initial jobless claims filed, compared to the 392,000 claims filed just the week before, according to the Labor Department.

For the past several months, unemployment claims have been declining.  This has given people hope that the job market is on its way to recovery.  In March alone, 216,000 jobs were added in the U.S., which is definitely a good sign of recovery.

According to an April 7 Bloomberg.com article titled “Jobless Claims in U.S. Fell 10,000 Last Week to 382,000”, Eric Green, chief market economist at TD Securities Inc. in New York, said the following about the job market: “The improvement in the labor market is for real. Growth is on a steady upswing. Sales expectations are rising with more hiring plans.”

Amid news of potential government shutdown today and with all of the other problems happening in the world, one can only hope that the job market will continue to recover, which in turn will make the economy stronger.