By Shobhana Chandra June 10 (Bloomberg) -- More Americans than anticipated filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign firings remain elevated even as the economy is expanding. Initial jobless claims dropped by 3,000 to 456,000 in the week ended June 5, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected 450,000 claims, according to the median forecast. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell to the lowest level since 2008, while those getting extended payments climbed. While payrolls rose for a fifth month in May, hiring by companies was less than forecast, underscoring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s comments yesterday that there will be “only a slow reduction” in the unemployment rate. Job gains are needed to spur consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy, and ensure a sustained expansion. “The labor market is not as healthy as it should be at this stage of the recovery,” said John Herrmann, senior fixed- income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston, who forecast claims at 453,000. “Hiring isn’t ramping up and this means there are downside risks to growth, income and consumption.” The U.S. trade deficit widened in April to the highest level in more than a year as exports dropped more than imports, a report from the Commerce Department showed. The gap grew 0.6 percent to $40.3 billion, the most since December 2008. Stocks Higher Stock-index futures maintained gains and Treasury securities dropped after the reports. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring this month rose 0.8 percent to 1,064 at 8:44 a.m. in New York. The 10-year Treasury note fell, pushing up the yield to 3.22 percent from 3.18 percent late yesterday. Jobless applications were projected to drop from 453,000 initially reported for the prior week, according to the median forecast of 45 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from 440,000 to 465,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, rose to 463,000 last week from 460,500, today’s report showed. The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits declined by 255,000 in the week ended May 29 to 4.46 million, the lowest since December 2008. They were forecast to drop to 4.64 million. Extended, Emergency Claims The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended or emergency benefits under federal programs. Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments increased by about 69,000 to 5.39 million in the week ended May 22. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, fell to 3.5 percent in the week ended May 29 from 3.7 percent. Thirty states and territories reported an increase in claims, while 23 reported a decrease. These data are reported with a one-week lag. Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to fall as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report -- accelerates. That relationship has broken down in recent months as some companies continue to cut staff, while others expand, pointing to an uneven recovery. Private Payrolls Private payrolls rose by 41,000 in May, trailing the 180,000 gain forecast by economists, a Labor Department report showed on June 4. Including government, total payrolls increased by 431,000, boosted by a jump in hiring of temporary census workers. The jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent last month as discouraged Americans dropped out of the workforce. “The economy will continue to recover at a moderate pace,” Bernanke said in testimony yesterday to a House Budget Committee hearing. The rebound is “not as fast as we would like,” he said, and the outlook is for “only a slow reduction in the unemployment rate over time.” The unemployment rate will end this year at 9.5 percent, and will average 9.1 percent in 2011, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey taken from June 2 to June 8. The rate of joblessness, while down from a 26-year high of 10.1 percent in October 2009, is restraining retail sales. Wal- Mart Stores Inc. the world’s largest retailer, said gasoline prices and unemployment hurt traffic to its U.S. stores. ‘Headwinds Are Real’ “These external headwinds are real,” Eduardo Castro- Wright, vice chairman and U.S. stores chief, told shareholders on June 4 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Competition from other retailers “is stiffer than ever,” he said. Among companies still paring their workforce is Hewlett- Packard Co., the world’s largest personal-computer maker. The Palo Alto, California-based company last week said it’ll slash about 3,000 jobs over several years. Lowe’s Cos., the second-largest U.S. home improvement retailer, is among companies expanding staff. Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s is adding more than 1,400 positions, and plans to fill the jobs internally and hire new workers. To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net

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