Yes, the number is initial claims (released every Thursday):
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/ecalendar/index.html
I see...look likes the ratio has been 4:1 for years (monthly first-time jobless claims : monthly unemployment number), which is quite far from 1:1...
In October, about 2 million Americans filed for jobless claims for the first time, but the gov. said "the number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000 in October". Anyone wants to explain why only 500k but not 2mil people became unemployed in October? Thanks.
I'm sure this is just what I needed to become a millionaire by next year.
Btw, I hope the mod doesn't mind if I use this place to test posting my first attachment