WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits declined unexpectedly last week, another indication that the job market may be healing as the economy slowly recovers.
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Nick Ayrom, a teacher, job hunting in California, which had an increase in claims last week.
The Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for unemployment insurance fell by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 432,000, the lowest since July 2008. That was much better than the rise to 460,000 that Wall Street economists had expected.
The four-week average, which smoothes fluctuations, fell for the 17th straight week to 460,250, the lowest since September 2008, when the financial crisis intensified. The crisis led to widespread mass layoffs, which sent jobless claims to as high as 674,000 last spring.
Economists closely monitor initial claims, which are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new work
The number of jobless workers continuing to claim benefits dropped 57,000 to 4.9 million, also better than the increase that analysts expected.
But the so-called continuing claims do not include millions of people who have used up the regular 26 weeks of benefits typically provided by states and are receiving extended benefits for up to 73 additional weeks, paid for by the federal government.
About 4.8 million people were receiving extended benefits in the week ended Dec. 12, the latest data available, an increase of 200,000 from the previous week. The rise is partly a result of another extension of benefits by Congress in November.
Among the states, Michigan had the largest increase in claims, with 8,382, which it attributed to layoffs in the auto industry. California, Florida, Iowa and Missouri had the next largest increases. The state data lags behind initial claims by one week.
Tennessee had the largest decrease, of 2,972, followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.
U.S. Jobless Claims Drop Unexpectedly
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