labor department jobless rates

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits suggests hiring is slowing. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for initial jobless benefits dipped last week by 2,000, but that was only after it revised the previous week's number upward by 8,000.

Employers went on a hiring spree in January and drove down the unemployment rate for a fifth straight month to 8.3 percent, its lowest point in nearly three years. The result pointed to a resurgent job market, and it sent stock futures surging. The Dow Jones industrial average futures, which were flat before the report, jumped 95 points.

Stocks are opening slightly lower despite a government report that the unemployment rate dropped in December to the lowest level in nearly three years. The Labor Department said early Friday that the unemployment rate fell last month to 8.5%, while U.S. employers added a net 200,000 jobs.

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.

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.

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.

The private sector created 67,000 jobs in August, more than the 40,000 gain economists had forecast. And job-loss totals for June and July were revised substantially downward. The jobless rate ticked up to 9.6% as more people started looking for jobs.

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.

Where is the last place you want to be if you're hanging onto a job? According to the latest statistics from the Labor Department, that's in Nevada, which now has the highest jobless rate, at 14%. What's bad news for the state is good news for Michigan, which has been at the top of the list for the...