The slowly improving tone to the U.S. job market continued with last week's numbers for new unemployment claims. The less volatile four-week moving average also dropped again, to 422,750. That's its lowest level since August 2008.
The latest jobless claims show how volatile the weekly data can be. The previous week's seasonally adjusted increase of 28,000 was followed by the latest week's drop of 17,000 to 421,000, much better than expected. Continuing claims also tumbled.
Initial jobless claims rose 26,000 to 436,000 in the latest week, but Labor Department officials caution that the report contains a seasonal adjustment associated with the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The more-telling four week average fell again, to 431,000.
Initial jobless claims dropped by 34,000 to 407,000, much lower than expected. The numbers suggest that the labor market is slowly improving, and nearing the point of reversing the negative trend driven by the deep recession.
The latest weekly initial claims report showed a small increase, some 2,000 higher to 439,000. The more-telling four-week moving average dropped by 4,000 to 443,000, and continuing claims fell another 48,000 to 4.3 million.
America's labor market got more good news with word of a 24,000 drop, to 435,000, in weekly jobless claims. A Bloomberg survey had expected a total of 450,000. In perhaps better news, the four-week moving average sank another 10,000 to 446,500.
In another setback on employment, initial jobless claims jumped a larger than anticipated 20,000 to 457,000, the Labor Department announced Thursday. Economists had predicted initial jobless claims would total 443,000.
America's bedraggled labor market got a boost today with the latest weekly initial jobless claims unexpectedly plunging 21,000 to 434,000. The four-week moving average also fell. While it's only one week's data, the report is a surprisingly good sign for employment.
New claims fell by 23,000 to 452,000 last week, but that's offset somewhat by the prior week's total being revised upward by 13,000. The numbers were a little better than expected, but still not enough to indicate a recovery gaining momentum.
Just call this week%u2019s labor report a wash: Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped 13,000 to 462,000, but continuing claims plunged another 112,000, and the trend in state-level claims continues to provide evidence that the period of layoffs is subsiding.
This week's report offered news of decent progress on the labor front, as claims fell 11,000 to 445,000. That's the lowest since early July. Still, any number over 400,000 shows there's still a long way to go.
The number of new and continuing jobless claims fell last week, a sign of modest progress in the labor market. After a seasonal rise this summer, claims appear to be trending lower.
The labor market turned in mixed performance as initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose to 465,00. However, continuing claims fell.
Initial jobless claims dipped more than expected to 450,000 last week, while continuing claims plunged 84,000 to 4.49 million, signaling another week of modest progress on the labor front.
Initial claims unexpectedly plunged 27,000 to 451,000, the U.S. Labor Department says. That's a long shot better than what a Bloomberg survey had forecast: It found initial jobless claims would dip to 470,000.