Weekly jobless claims were lower than expected Labor Dept is saying it is technical, seasonally adjusted auto layoffs are screwing up the data, and there was a holiday-nothing to write home about, but hopefully some more people are still working..continuing claims hit another record…

The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits last week fell to lowest level since early January, largely due to changes in the timing of auto industry layoffs…Continuing claims, meanwhile, unexpectedly jumped to a record-high….New claims for unemployment insurance (dropped) by 52,000 to 565,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

…The drop resulted partly from technical factors, a department analyst said. Auto layoffs that normally take place in early July, as factories are retooled to build the next year’s models, occurred in the spring instead as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC implemented sweeping restructuring plans.

The department’s seasonal adjustment process expected a large increase in claims from auto workers and other manufacturing workers, the analyst said. Since that didn’t occur, seasonally-adjusted claims fell. The non-seasonally adjusted figure increased by about 17,000 to 577,506 initial claims.

Still, continuing claims jumped 159,000 to 6.88 million, the highest on records dating from 1967. Analysts had expected 6.71 million continuing claims…

Retail sales continue to drop (not surprising anyone in the real world but shocking to economists!)

Meanwhile Jim Cramer is again calling attention to what should by now be obvious to anyone watching the markets, TOTUS is hurting the economic recovery with his inability to leave any sector of the economy untouched…MiM has not been watching Cramer since his rather sad appearance on Stewart and his subsequent change of tone on TOTUS.

We know Jim has college shows and the ‘youts’ are an important part of his demographic, but what we loved about Cramer was his in your face, tell it like he sees it attitude. GE reigned him in pretty hard apparently. Well Jim is back off the reservation, and MiM is glad to see him back in the game:

…The same force that so hurt the markets this winter has yet again reared its ugly head: the White House’s anti-business rhetoric. Cramer on Wednesday blamed the negative sentiment for stocks’ recent pullback. Investors don’t seem to trust President Obama to create jobs and stimulate the economy, not when he prioritizes climate change and health care. “I want President Obama to succeed,” Cramer said, “but right now he’s getting it wrong.”…

Jim was careful to get that ‘I want him to succeed!’ in there, as the leftys lose it if anyone has the AUDACITY to acknowledge the One’s negative impact on the economy, Jim is apparently trying to avoid the ‘Rush’ treatment….

…Obama’s administration seems to be working on all the wrong things, at least for now given the recession and the chatter about revisiting the early March lows. On top of cap-and-trade and Medicare, the president has pushed for the expansion of union powers, taxing offshore corporate profits and even probing AT&T  and Verizon on antitrust grounds. Cramer doubted that Obama could send clearer signals that his concerns are anywhere but the economy. Not that these aren’t noble pursuits, but people need steady income so they can pay their mortgages.

“The president should be focusing on job creation,” Cramer said, “but is in fact doing very little of the sort.”

…Businesses won’t start hiring until we get two of three economic imperatives, Cramer said: people need to feel their jobs are stable, their home prices are stable and that stocks are going higher. Right now we have stabilization in home prices, but not in jobs. And then there’s the OAI. One of three isn’t good enough.

Cramer urged Obama to postpone his agenda for now in favor of boosting the economy. And the best way to do that is to fight unemployment.

“Without more job creation,” Cramer said, “the president’s agenda and his tone will continue to slowly and inexorably squeeze the life out of this stock market.”

Art Cashin  is also pulling no punches:

…Cashin reiterated his belief that another government stimulus package would be useless — because the first package was “part illusion, part hoax.” And now that the economy’s problems seem to be continuing, “the fire extinguisher’s empty,” he said. Cashin believes the current stock rally will be short-lived….

Alcoa earnings yesterday:

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