This just out via the Associated Press:

The number of newly laid off workers filing for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in nearly two months, providing more evidence that the weak economy is having an adverse impact on the labor market.

The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for jobless benefits totaled 378,000 last week. That was an increase of 22,000 from the previous week and was a far bigger jump than had been expected.

    So, some people are really getting hurt by the gambles of the Wall Street financiers, while others make out, according to the Wall Street Journal today:

Large hedge funds — including Harbinger Capital Partners, Greenlight Capital, Tremblant Capital Group and Paulson & Co. — made millions of dollars as Bear Stearns’s shares tumbled and various bearish positions rose in value, according to securities filings and people close to the firms.