Jobless Claims Ease 

First time claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 34,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 601,000 in the week ending May 2, marking the lowest level recorded since late January, the U.S. Labor Department said today. “The evidence is growing that the recession may be bottoming out in the second quarter,” wrote analysts at RDQ Economics in a research note. “Companies may have begun to slow the rate of layoffs, but there is no evidence here that the pace of hiring has picked up.”