Recent figures on jobless claims have managed to add some encouraging signs to an otherwise gloomy and weak economy, by revealing that claims for jobless benefits declined over the past week by more than expected. Also the number of people on unemployment insurance managed to slip to the lowest in nearly a year.

In the week up-to February 27, initial claims for jobless benefits declined by as much as 29,000 to a new low of 469,000. The figures released by the US Labor Department have managed to lift spirits and signal that the unemployment rate of the country is now slowly improving.

The job market had been hit very hard during recession, with the jobless rate hitting a whopping 10%, leaving most of the people under-employed, if not completely unemployment.

The positive numbers seem to have set the ball rolling and authorities are expecting better figures in future.

So is it now finally safe to say that the job market of the country is improving? While the figures do hint at this, there are still a lot of issues that need to be dealt with - right from finding jobs for the huge number of people rendered workless, to ensuring that the payouts and bonuses return to levels which are considered acceptable by workers.

While many challenges are yet to be battled, the latest good news is definitely a reason for celebration, and something which has given us a reason to rejoice.