By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who signed up for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 23,000 to 452,000 in the week ended Oct. 16, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to fall to a seasonally adjusted 450,000. The four-week moving average of new claims, a more accurate gauge of employment trends than the volatile weekly number, fell 4,250 to 458,000.
Continuing claims, those for workers already receiving unemployment checks, dropped 9,000 to 4.44 million in the week ended Oct. 9. The four-week average of these ongoing claims fell 23,250 to 4.48 million, the lowest level since December of 2008.
While new claims are down from a recent peak of about 500,000 in August, economists have remained concerned about persistently high levels.
“Further declines will be needed to suggest a more meaningful improvement in labor market conditions,” wrote UBS analysts in a research note prior to Thursday’s data release.
The government recently reported that overall nonfarm payroll employment fell 95,000 in September, with a modest gain of 64,000 for private-sector payroll employment.
The federal government has offered extended benefits of up to two years in the states hardest hit by the recession. There were about 5.1 million beneficiaries receiving extended federal benefits in the week ended Oct. 2. Altogether, about 8.9 million people were receiving some kind of benefit.
