Ouch! Suddenly the new year looks a lot less inviting. New jobless claims surged higher last week by 36,000 to a total of 445,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the government reports. That’s the biggest weekly gain since last July and the jump pushes the total to its highest in 10 weeks. Quoting the immortal question of every shell-shocked solider through history: Wha’ happn’d?

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A new poll says the public’s against it, but the debt ceiling’s probably going to rise anyway. So much for representing the people’s wishes.
A mere 18% of citizens support a higher limit on the nation’s debt vs. 71% opposed to the idea, according to poll released yesterday by Reuters/Ipsos. The current ceiling is the tidy sum of $14.3 trillion. That’s a chunk of change everywhere else on the planet, but it won’t suffice in Washington for much longer.

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