MW:Weekly jobless claims fall to 423,000 from 432,000
By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New applications for unemployment compensation fell to 423,000 last week from 432,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up from an original reading of 428,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected new requests for jobless benefits to drop to 424,000, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The average of first-time claims filed over the past four weeks, meanwhile, climbed to 421,000 - the highest level in two months. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it smooths out volatility in the week-to-week data. The number of Americans who continue to receive regular state unemployment checks fell by 28,000 to 3.73 million in the week ended Sept. 10. About 6.89 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of Sept. 3, down 256,256 from the prior week.
