Bloomberg reports Jobless Claims in U.S. Rise for First Time in Five Weeks, as I ponder how all of those heretofore unemployed MBS traders that Bernanke tried to assist benefit the jobless claims number. As I explained last quarter, Bernanke's squandering of US resources for the benefit of the banking elite will have to be paid for by those who actually seek jobs in this country. The Bloomberg article is excerpted as follows:

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments rose for the first time in five weeks, a sign further improvement in the labor market depends on faster economic growth.

Applications for jobless benefits increased by 17,000 to 361,000 in the week ended Dec. 15, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 360,000 claims, according to the Bloomberg survey median. 

The figures signal the expansion probably needs to proceed more quickly to encourage companies to hold the line on headcounts and step up hiring while Congress debates the nation’s budget and tax rates. The Federal Reserve said last week it intends to keep policy accommodative to invigorate the economy and help sustain a decline in joblessness.

“This number gets us back into the range we’ve been in really since the spring,” said Omair Sharif, a U.S. economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, who forecast claims would rise to 360,000. “We’re not waiting to see much more improvement on the layoff side. We’re just waiting for the hiring side to get going.”

 ZeroHedge adds in as follows:

This week's data remains below the year's average, though not by much, and the trend of claims falling appears to have almost entirely stalled this year from the hope-driven moves of the previous two years.

Now, if you remember, Benjamin Bernanke was supposed to have aided unemployment by buying hundreds of billions of dollars of MBS securities, right? Yeah, I know.. WTF!!! Let's take a look at how that has worked out histoically...

Not only has it not worked out well historically, but the unemployment numbers spiked as soon as Bernanke admitted the buying as can be referenced in the ZeroHedge chart above, and have not truly showed a trend of abatement since, but then again, one shouldn't expect such looking at the historical trend in my chart above. If you want to see a positive trend, look at the industry that was saddled with bullshit MBS to begin with...

And there you have it, MBS purchases by the hundreds of billions that likely drive bank shares through the roof as they are unsaddled of the bullshit which they schemed so hard to peddle in the first place as unemployment restarts its upward climb, devoid of the resources that Bernanke directed towards the banks. For those who don't remember how my rant on Bernanke selling out the working class for the banking class went down, reference the video on the topic below...

And on that note, here's a group of companies (yes, another group) that we expect to get banged by this not-so-stealth bank bailout. Chief among this group is an overpriced gem that is suffering spiking expenses, flat revenue and a sad macro outlooke, for subscribers only (click here to subscribe)...  Specialty Note (Consumer Retail)

There will be several more reports to subscribers before the new year. Stay tuned...