Everybody is worried about the nation’s dismal employment situation, and that worry has prompted news organizations, pundits, market watchers, and others to focus intently upon any and all economic metrics that gauge the problem. On the first Friday of every month, the non-farm payroll report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is hotly anticipated, and can move the markets for days afterwards.

As a more immediate measure of employment, news organizations have begun focusing on the initial unemployment claims reported every week by the Department of Labor. This comes out every Thursday, and usually prompts reports such as this, from Bloomberg: