With the monthly unemployment numbers for the month of May due Friday, June 5th, economists estimate the national unemployment rate will rise from 8.9 percent to 9.2 percent, with the total job losses over the course of the month to be slightly lower than in April.

In April, the unemployment figures showed signs of improvement over the previous six months. While the Department of Labor reported a loss of 539,000 jobs that month, the numbers were the best since last September and shy of economists' more pessimistic predictions. Almost 6 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007.

The jobs numbers suggest some initial positive impact from President Obama's recovery act with better results yet to come. Jared Bernstein, a top economic advisor to Vice President Biden, added that over the next 100 days, recovery act funds will create or save 600,000 jobs. He pointed to positive signs in interest rates, the housing markets and the diminished rate of job loss as reasons for hope.

Despite this, Bernstein added, 'our administration believes that we are far, far from out of the woods. To us the fact that we're losing fewer jobs is not good news.'

The latest data from the Department of Labor released this week suggested that the dismal unemployment situation has not yet turned the corner.

According to Department of Labor statistics released today, June 4th, initial jobless claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 30th decreased over the previous week by 4,000 to 621,000. This means that 621,000 newly laid-off people filed for unemployment benefits during that week. This week's numbers put the moving four-week average down by about 4,000, the DOL reported.

The DOL also reported that 6.75 million people received unemployment benefits during the week ending May 23rd, a decrease of 15,000 over the previous week. Over the previous month, that number had grown by about 88,750.

Fewer layoffs in construction, auto and manufacturing helped lower jobless claims in North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, according to information provided by those states to the Department of Labor.

The worsening jobs picture prompted the AFL-CIO last month to launch a new Web site designed to help unemployed workers find the resources they need to survive in the recession. The Unemployment Lifeline, as the site is called, provides information on local aid for unemployment compensation benefits, child care, medical care, utility assistance and more. It also links workers to political action on such issues as passing the Employee Free Choice Act, universal health care reform and more.

Earlier this month, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called for sweeping action in a press statement. 'We also must make broad-based economic changes to have sustained economic growth and an economy that works for everyone,' he stated. 'We must deal with our country’s unsustainable trade deficit. We must reform our financial regulatory system to provide more transparency and government oversight and regulation. And we must pass the Employee Free Choice Act so workers can win the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively with their employers for fair wages, security and benefits.'

Economists warn that data from an indicator such as a weekly jobless claim report should be taken with a grain a salt. Such reports are often revised, are only a snapshot of a given moment and so far indicate little, if any, improvement in the jobs situation in this country.

Estimates of jobless claims also do not reflect the number of jobs created in a given period that may offset those numbers. Initial unemployment claims remain alarmingly high.