Jobless claims drop to almost a four-year low

[ProSense]

27. Think

I think there were 358,000 people laid off. They filed unemployment.

So 358,000 jobs lost. Then there were 200,000 people hired in new jobs. This means there are now 158,000 jobs that no longer exist here. So where did the 158,000 jobs go? My bet is they packed up and headed to the 3rd world. If that is good news I sure hope never to see any bad news.

...about what you are comparing: weekly job losses to monthly job creation. I mean, a person can file an unemployment claim this week and have a job by next week. They don't compare.

From the most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary:

<...>

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net employment change results from the
relationship between hires and separations. When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in December 2011, hires totaled 48.4 million and separations totaled 47.0 million, yielding a net employment gain of 1.4 million. These figures include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

Via Calculated Risk: