New Jobless Claims Tumble to Three Year Low

We haven't seen this few people applying for first time unemployment benefits since 2008. In the week ending Feb. 26, initial claims dropped by 20,000 to 368,000. That's the third decline in the last four weeks, and shows that many companies have finally reached the point where they just can't afford to let anyone else go. Now we need to get employers to the point where they can't afford not to hire.

Now, 368,000 initial unemployment claims may seem like a lot, but to give you an idea of how far we've come, the highest number of claims for first time benefits in one week was 651,000, during the peak of the recession. Analysts say that if the number consistently falls below 375,000, it signals a significant decline in the unemployment rate. We'll find out if this is true when the national unemployment numbers for February are released Friday.