Is the sky falling?

The U.S. Labor Department said claims for unemployment benefits edged up 25,000 from the week before. That, in turn, triggered another round of rooftop exclamations mostly articulated as: "Oh. My. God!" To wit: "Unemployment benefits jump to 410,000," screamed the Washington Post headline (accompanied by the obligatory photo of a forlorn unemployed guy). The figures “jumped,” mind you. "Stocks fall on higher unemployment claims," reported Bloomberg Businessweek, evoking images of the Duke Brothers desperately shouting “Sell! Sell! Sell!” in Trading Places. "Every time we dip below 400k, it inches back up," said the Washington Monthly blog, as if the economy is sentient. The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Um -- No, actually it's not. "This is nothing to worry about," said Ian Shepherdson, an economist. He told CNN: "The downward trend is still in place, though the weekly numbers have been hugely volatile in recent weeks because of the severe weather." Thank you for that splash of cold water. Don’t get me wrong. The unemployment problem is worrying. But we’re not yet in the grip of Judgment Day. Memo to Media: Can we stop behaving as if the apocalypse is nigh, especially, you know, week to week?