|
Post by bot on Jan 23, 2015 19:34:21 GMT -5
U.S. jobless claims fall 10,000 to 307,000
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits in mid-January fell by 10,000 but remained above the key 300,000 mark for the third straight week, the first time that's happened since July. Initial jobless claims declined to 307,000 in the seven days ended Jan. 10 from a revised 317,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims to fall to a seasonally adjusted 298,000. Initial claims are often quite volatile in the period stretching from Thanksgiving until the end of January because of the holiday season and poor weather. Economists say it may take several more weeks to know if the labor market is softening a bit or whether the rise in claims mainly reflects layoffs of temporary workers that companies hired for the holidays. The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, rose by 6,500 to 306,500 and hit a six-month high. The four-week average smoothens out seasonal volatility in the weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Also, the government said continuing claims increased by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.44 million in the week ended Jan 10. Continuing claims reflect the number of people already receiving benefits. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up by 1,000 to 317,000, putting them at the highest level since last June.
|
|