Initial jobless and continuing claims fall

It isn't much, but amid talk of a five-year recession (or worse), investors, executives and economists alike will take it.

Both initial jobless claims and continuing claims fell in May: initial jobless claims fell 4,000 to 621,000 and continuing claims dipped 15,000 to 6.735 million, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday.

One other, minor bright spot: it was the first time in about four months that the continuing claims statistic did not rise.