Announced last week, the jobless claims numbers have hit a 9 month low. This report coincided with the news that retailers posted the first monthly sales gain in over a year. These are both positive numbers, continuing on the trends of economic improvement you’ve probably been hearing about.

Remember, jobless numbers are different from unemployment. The jobless claims mean the number of people applying for unemployment for the first time, so basically the number of people who have just lost their jobs. The unemployment numbers still remain high, but unemployment will be among the last of the numbers to recover.

Before pointing out this new information we wanted to take the time to ask the opinion of analyst Ryan Detrick, Senior Technical Strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. Ryan says:

“We continue to see real economic growth in certain critical areas.  The recent manufacturing data and services data show we indeed are on the mend.  Are jobs lagging?  Yes.  But historically, jobs do lag and this isn’t a reason to doubt the very impressive signs of strength we are seeing across the board in economic growth.  There is a lot of talk about higher inflation, but we just don’t see it.  CPI and PPI numbers continue to be contained, and as as long as inflation stays low and interest rates stay low, the economy will continue to surprise to the upside.”

As Ryan points out, interest rates are still low, which still makes this a great time to finance a home. We are still in a “buyers’ market.” And for sellers, buyers are still entering the market and still taking advantage of this economic climate — houses are still selling. These numbers are just more of the many signs that the market is slowly (very slowly) improving.

To learn more about these newest reports, check out these links:

• ABC News: Jobless claims hit 9-month low, retail sales rise.
• Wall Street Journal: Jobless Claims Decrease in Latest Week.
• Washington Post: Retail Sales Rise for a Change.

More from AmyBSells.com:

• What the Current Economy Means for Buyers and Sellers.
• The Market: on the Road to Normalization.
• What the Stimulus is Doing.

Other Posts

• March 5, 2010 -- January New Home Sales Numbers: What They Mean
• May 26, 2009 -- New Credit Card Rules
• April 26, 2010 -- Oakley Real Estate Market Conditions (April 23, 2010)
• August 20, 2007 -- Triple Crown Golf Community, Union, Kentucky