New jobless claims for the week of May 31 to June 4 fell from the previous week, but not by much. The number of new claims was 456,000, down 3,000 from the previous week but hardly indicative of strong growth in either the job market or the economy.

The national unemployment rate has inched down to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent, but much of the improvement is due to temporary census jobs. The general consensus among economists is that businesses remain skeptical about the apparent economic recovery. Hiring now could prove to be a very costly mistake if the economy lurches into a “double-dip” recession.