The news for Main Street just keeps getting worse. The Labor Department says that new applications for unemployment benefits jumped to 500,000 last week — that would be the highest level since November 2009. It’s the latest sign that employers are again laying off workers as the economy slows once more.

The Labor Department says initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the fourth increase in the past five weeks. Wall Street economists forecast that claims would drop.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose by 8,000 to 482,500, the highest since December. A Labor Department analyst says there were no special factors that distorted the numbers.

Tell me, is this all part of the “Recovery Summer” plan Obama has told us about? Because, so far, I’m finding very little “recovery” during this summer.