The number of individuals in the United States currently seeking jobless benefits has remained flat for the past week, staying the same as it was during the week before. The number of individuals applying for these benefits was at 374,000 which also provide insight on the current state of the economy and the job market. At this point in time it is believed that the job market is moving at such a slow pace. The information on the number of people applying for these benefits was provided by the Labor Department. The number of applications submitted for unemployment benefits shows how many people are being laid off and whether or not the layoffs are taking place at a certain pace. Over the past few weeks, applications have increased meaning that layoffs likely took place. Even with an increase in applications for unemployment benefits, the number of applications is still lower than they were during the spring.

Even with a large number of individuals applying for unemployment benefits, whenever the number of applications submitted falls below 375,000, it usually means that hiring is currently strong and will help enough to adjust the unemployment rate, making it lower than it was before. The information provided on the number of applications submitted could point toward an average of 100,000 jobs being created each month. A senior economist for Capital Economics, Paul Dales, believes that even with 100,000 jobs being created each month, it is not enough to get the unemployment rate to drastically drop on down. Another economist for BMP Capital Markets, Jennifer Lee, has said, “Given some of the indicators seen so far, the August payroll report is not going to look terribly inspirational.”

During the month of July, employers added a total of around 1630,000 jobs. The number of jobs made available and the number of people employed was definitely an improvement, especially when compared with the past three months before July. However, there were not enough gains to help lower the unemployment rate. In fact, the unemployment rate actually increased from 8.2 percent during the month of June to 8.3 percent for the month of July. According to economists, the only way for the unemployment rate to become lower is for more jobs to be created at a faster pace so that more individuals can find employment sooner. Economists do believe that the economy is going to improve but that it is going to do so at a slow pace. The vast majority of economists agree that the unemployment rate will likely remain at or above 8 percent for the rest of 2012.