8.6% unemployment numbers...NOT so rosy

  So the November unemployment numbers dropped in November to 8.6%, something which will provide fodder for Democrat operatives going into the Christmas season.
  Is anyone surprised that more people were employed for the holiday season?
  Every Kohl's, Lowe's, Arby's and drug store I've entered has a "now hiring" sign up at the front door.
  Employers need seasonal help.
  Yet jobless numbers increased. More people became discouraged and chose to no longer seek employment:

After a month of what looked to be a positive trend popping up for the American economy, jobless claims have once again surged above the 400,000 mark last week, halting hopes of a recovery from the recession. 

The US Labor Department announced on Thursday that the number of Americans filing for state benefits for the first time came in at around 402,000 for the week ending November 26, 2011, denoting a surge of 6,000 since the previous week, dousing what was thought to be a developing relief from the stagnant unemployment epidemic that has put jobless numbers nationwide at or above 9.0 percent for months upon months now.

  Now watch. Somehow the numbers will be revised next week, something that seems to be happening quite often now.
  Charts over at Zero Hedge:

Here are the four most important data points and charts from today's job report: the civilian labor force declined from 154,198 to 153,883, a 315K decline despite the civilian non-institutional population increased (as expected) from 240,269 to 240,441: always the easiest way to push down the unemployment rate. Percentage wise this was a drop from 64.2% to 64.0%: the lowest since back in 1983. Naturally, this would mean that the people not part of the labor force rose, and indeed they did by 487,000 to a record 86,558 from 86,071. This also means that more people are looking for a job: and indeed, the number of "Persons who want a job now" rose by 192K to a record 6.595 million. And lastly, confirming the behind the scenes disaster of the US jobless picture, the average duration of unemployment rose to a new record 40.9 weeks from 39.4 weeks previously. And that is your "improving" jobless picture in a nutshell.