Fewer Americans filed first-time applications for unemployment insurance last week, indicating the pace of job losses is slowing even as the total number of people on benefits continues to break records. Initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 to a less-than- forecast 631,000 in the week that ended April 25, from a revised 645,000 the prior week, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The number of people staying on jobless benefit rolls increased by 133,000 to 6.27 million, the 13th straight week the figure has set a record. A slower pace of unemployment claims suggests the recession may be easing and could foreshadow the revival in consumer spending that economists say is essential to a recovery. U.S. consumer confidence jumped by the most since 2005 this month in part because stocks rallied and Americans anticipated more jobs would become available, the Conference Board said two days ago. ``There's been a very large policy response to the financial turbulence of late last year and that's starting to work its way through the financial sector, and that in turn is helping to stabilize,'' the rest of the economy, Jonathan Basile, an economist at Credit Suisse Holdings USA in New York, said before the report. The Federal Reserve yesterday refrained from increasing purchases of Treasuries and mortgage securities, signaling the worst of the recession may be over. Economists forecast claims would be unchanged at 640,000 last week, according to the median of 39 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 630,000 to 670,000. Four-Week Average The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 637,250 from 648,000. The jobless rate among people eligible for benefits rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.7 percent in the week ended April 18, the highest since December 1982. Twenty-three states and territories reported an increase in new claims for the week ended April 18, while 30 had a decrease. The Labor Department is scheduled to release its April payrolls report on May 8. The U.S. lost 663,000 jobs last month, Labor said April 3, and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent, the highest level since 1983. The economy has lost about 5.1 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg in early April said unemployment will rise to 9.5 percent by the end of the year. `Remains Constrained' The Fed yesterday said the economy is showing some signs of stability. ``Household spending has shown signs of stabilizing, but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth and tight credit,'' policy makers said in their policy statement. The target rate was unchanged near zero. Automakers have been among the hardest hit by the recession. Earlier this week, General Motors Corp. unveiled a survival plan that would cut dealerships by 42 percent to about 3,600 by the end of the year and drop more union and salaried positions. The company, which is trying to avoid a June 1 U.S.-backed bankruptcy, said its union workforce will fall to 40,000 by the end of next year, from 62,000 in 2008. An earlier target had been 46,800 positions.

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