Jobless claims lowest in eight months
WASHINGTON (APOnline) — New claims for unemployment insurance fell last week to their lowest level in eight months, a sign that companies may have a bit more faith in the staying power of the economic recovery and thus are easing the pace of layoffs.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that for the work week ended Oct. 4, new applications for jobless benefits dropped a seasonally adjusted 23,000 to 382,000, best showing since Feb. 8. Analysts were predicting claims would dip to 395,000.
New claims hit a high this year of 459,000 in mid April.
The four-week moving average of new claims, which smoothes out weekly fluctuations, declined 11,500 last week to 393,500, also the lowest since Feb. 8.
The number of unemployed people collecting jobless benefits for more than a week also fell 7,000 — to 3.6 million for the week ending Sept. 27, the most recent period for which that information is available.
Hopeful signs in the labor market come as the economy, which grew at a annual rate of 3.3% in the April-to-June quarter of this year, is believed to have picked up speed and grown around 5% in the July-to-September quarter, economists said.
In September, for the first time in eight months, the economy actually added jobs — 57,000 of them — helping keep the nation's unemployment rate at 6.1%, the government reported last week.
While that employment report offered hope that job seekers may be seeing better days, economists said steady improvement in the battered job market will take time. They said companies will want profits to get stronger and feel more confident in the vigor of the economic rebound before they go on a hiring and spending spree.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues are expected to hold their target for a key short-term interest rate at a 45-year low 1% when they meet Oct. 28. By holding rates at such low levels, businesses and consumers should be more inclined to boost spending and investment, something that would lift economic growth.
WASHINGTON (APOnline) — New claims for unemployment insurance fell last week to their lowest level in eight months, a sign that companies may have a bit more faith in the staying power of the economic recovery and thus are easing the pace of layoffs.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that for the work week ended Oct. 4, new applications for jobless benefits dropped a seasonally adjusted 23,000 to 382,000, best showing since Feb. 8. Analysts were predicting claims would dip to 395,000.
New claims hit a high this year of 459,000 in mid April.
The four-week moving average of new claims, which smoothes out weekly fluctuations, declined 11,500 last week to 393,500, also the lowest since Feb. 8.
The number of unemployed people collecting jobless benefits for more than a week also fell 7,000 — to 3.6 million for the week ending Sept. 27, the most recent period for which that information is available.
Hopeful signs in the labor market come as the economy, which grew at a annual rate of 3.3% in the April-to-June quarter of this year, is believed to have picked up speed and grown around 5% in the July-to-September quarter, economists said.
In September, for the first time in eight months, the economy actually added jobs — 57,000 of them — helping keep the nation's unemployment rate at 6.1%, the government reported last week.
While that employment report offered hope that job seekers may be seeing better days, economists said steady improvement in the battered job market will take time. They said companies will want profits to get stronger and feel more confident in the vigor of the economic rebound before they go on a hiring and spending spree.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues are expected to hold their target for a key short-term interest rate at a 45-year low 1% when they meet Oct. 28. By holding rates at such low levels, businesses and consumers should be more inclined to boost spending and investment, something that would lift economic growth.
