US Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Decline

US Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Decline

So, okay, I'm not a very smart person, but isn't the unemployment rate a key marker for how well the economy is going? Why then is the first paragraph of this article constructed as such:

Fewer Americans than forecast applied for unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies are reluctant to fire more workers even as the economy slows.

Wouldn't the better conclusion to draw from this data be, "Economy not really slowing as much as we thought"?

Again, I don't really know anything, other than common sense, maybe, so I'm happy to be corrected. It's just that whenever I go out into the real world, I see a bazillion people shopping, a bazillion people driving gasoline powered vehicles, and a bazillion people purchasing entertainment products. Do these things really happen in a "slow economy"?

Again & Again