Economy

More Good News on the Economy

The light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter -- and no sign of artificially inflated bubbles fueling it, which means there's a potential for sustained growth.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Claims for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level in four years, according to a Labor Department report.

The data, along with stronger than expected reports of hiring in January from ADP and the Labor Department payrolls report signals that the U.S. job market is picking up the steam needed to push the unemployment rate below 8%.

Applications by workers seeking unemployment insurance payments fell by 13,000 in the week ended Feb. 11 to 348,000, putting overall claims far less than estimates of 365,000, according to economist forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.