With the latest weekly initial jobless claims declining 6,000 to 472,000, the U.S. labor market has eked out some modest improvement. Still, jobless claims need to drop below 400,000 during the next two quarters to show broad economic gains.
The Labor Department's jobless report finally brought a bit of good news Thursday: Initial jobless claims fell by an unexpectedly large 31,000 last week to 473,000. Even so, unemployment remains at what policy makers consider an unacceptably high level.
Initial jobless claims continue to trend in the wrong direction, this time unexpectedly rising 12,000 to 500,000. If the uptrend persists, it would likely lead to lower corporate revenue and U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter.
Initial jobless claims unexpectedly surged by 19,000 to 479,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Although the statistic was likely skewed higher by normal summer factory shutdowns, the increase portrays a labor market still under strain.
Initial jobless claims fell a better-than-expected 11,000 to 457,000, but continuing claims rose 81,000 to 4.57 million, the Labor Department reports. Among with the economy, the unemployment outlook remains uncertain.
Initial jobless claims rose 37,000 to 464,000. Labor Department officials warn that the initial jobless statistic can be especially volatile in July/August, due to annual factory shut-downs to retool.
Mixed results on the employment front this week, as initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell but continuing claims surged. Economists worry that the high level of unemployment continues to threaten the nascent economic recovery.
After a string of disappointing reports, employment made some modest progress in the week ending July 3. Initial jobless claims fell by 21,000 to 454,000, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday.
Initial jobless claims continue to trend in the wrong direction: They rose 13,000 to 472,000 last week, the Labor Department said, and are now up 3.5% since January. The more-telling four-week moving average also rose, by 3,250 to 466,500.
New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week by 19,000 to 457,000. Even so, the high level of continuing claims -- 4.55 million -- indicates that hiring remains tepid despite more than two quarters of positive economic growth.
This week%u2019s 14,000 drop in initial jobless claims to 460,000 speaks to the progress the nation has made in reducing layoffs, but the rolling average tells a less positive story. And the aftereffects of the recession mean it will be at least 18 months before unemployment falls to near normal levels.
Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped by 25,000 to 471,000 for the week ending May 15, another reflection of the nation's slow, uneven progress in reducing unemployment levels.
News on the U.S. employment front was muddled this week, as one key labor metric showed positive developments, while two others presented a less encouraging picture. Initial jobless claims dipped only marginally, and continuing claims inched higher, the Labor Department said.
Jobless claims jumped 36,000 to 482,000 for the week ending January 16, 2010, but the Labor Department says that the surge was primarily due to an administrative factor -- a flood of filings during the year-end holiday period.
More mixed progress on the employment front, as initial jobless claims rose to 444,000 for the week ending Jan. 9. However, continuing claims plunged 211,000 to 4.60 million, their lowest total in a year.