by Laura Conaway

Good morning, and welcome to the Thursday reading list.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose last week by 11,000 to 531,000, the Department of Labor reports. That was more than analysts expected. The four-week moving average continued falling, to 532,250 last week from 533,000

Chronic unemployment remains a problem. Today's reports shows signs that more people are exhausting their regular benefits without finding new work. Those rolls dropped by 98,000 to 5.92 million. As of Oct. 3, the number of people on extended unemployment benefits climbed to 3.86 million from 3.83 million.

In other news, Macroblog makes the case that we're in for a jobless recovery. (Hat tip: Calculated Risk.)

President Obama will steer what's left of the $700 billion TARP bailout for bigger banks — something like $140 billion — to smaller banks in an effort to jumpstart lending to local businesses. The Obama administration is also directing the seven remaining bailout recipients to slash pay for their top 25 earners.

China is negotiating a deal to drill for oil in U.S. territory, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ethiopia is asking for $285 million in emergency food aid for 6.2 million people facing famine. Oxfam says that the imported aid helps, but that the country needs longer-term investment in irrigation and well systems to avoid a food crisis every time drought strikes.