The U.S. Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. The report will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Thursday. BOUNCE BACK: Economists forecast that weekly applications rose 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 313,000, according to a survey by FactSet. But that increase would come after a sharp fall in the previous week to 297,000, the lowest level in seven years. Applications have fallen about 10 percent since the beginning of this year and are back to pre-recession levels. The weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the declines indicate that ... (full story)