A numbers nerds rule is that never a single data point shall a trend make. But five numbers? Maybe.

The “five” is the number of consecutive weeks that the number of people filing new claims for unemployment compensation has dropped from the year before. The “trend,” if that’s what it is, began the week of December 26 and continued through the week of January 23, the most recent data posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here are the number of new claims by week with the year-over-year change.

Week Ending                                    New Claims                        Change From 2009

January 2, 2010                        1,617                                                -2

January 9                                    2,479                                                -686

January 16                                    2,144                                                -665

January 23                                    1,671                                                -402           

If you want to check for yourself, go to www.workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp. Inconveniently located waaayyyy at the bottom of the page is a box headed, “Choose a Weekly Report.” Pick “Regular State Data.”