As shell-shocked Americans look forward to the end of a horrible 2008, jobless claims jumped again to show that the New Year isn’t likely to bring any immediate respite for the economy.
 
With the jobless report moved up by a day because of Christmas, the Labor Department reported initial claims for jobless benefits rose to a Scroogely 26-year high. Claims for the week that ended December 20 popped by 30,000, to a seasonally adjusted 586,000.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected claims would rise by 6,000.
 
The Wall Street Journal added that the four-week average of new claims, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, also rose to a fresh 26-year high, climbing by 13,750, to 558,000.
 
The report wasn’t a surprise, but the toll the job losses will take in 2009 is looming large as economists gear up their expectations—especially in the housing and consumer-spending areas.

Rising unemployment could put a serious dent in the power of the voracious American consumers—who account for 70 percent of GDP. The Commerce Dept. reported today that personal consumption fell 0.6 percent, the fifth consecutive monthly decline. Americans did, however, boost savings yet again to prepare for continued weakness in 2009.

The pain isn’t just being felt in the manufacturing heartland or in the gloomy canyons of New York finance. Bloomberg News reported today that Silicon Valley faces its worst job cuts since the internet bubble burst in 2001.
 
According to the story, the Valley has a 7 percent unemployment rate—about 4,000 fewer jobs today than this time last year—and global spending on computers and software will slide 8 percent next year in the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan.