In a sign that the US economy may be getting stronger, numbers have come out this morning pointing to a better than expected job market. Last week initial claims for unemployment aid dropped by 11,000, to 445,000. This is the lowest level since July 10th of this year.

Overall, the number of new people filing for unemployment has dropped a considerable amount in the last 5 months. In June a total of 600,000 claims were reported. Economists are looking for a sustained decline in initial claims for unemployment below 450,000. If this occurs, things would look a lot brighter for the US job market.

This is the 4th time in the last 5 weeks that there has been a decline. Economists who were polled earlier this week expected a rise in unemployment claims, however they were pleasantly surprised when the opposite was reported this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 40 points in pre-market trading this morning, as hope for a slow recovery continue to be on the minds of traders.