The last week of the Bush legacy gave us a new record:

The number of people remaining on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of aid, or continued claims, rose 159,000 to a higher-than-forecast 4.776 million in the week ended Jan 17, the most recent week for which data is available.

The Labor Department said this was the highest reading since its records on this series began in 1967. Analysts had expected continued claims to be 4.65 million.

Of course these numbers won’t bet better anytime soon. Bush may be gone but his damage lives on.