BLBG:U.S. Jobless Claims Increase to 380,000, Higher Than Forecast
More Americans than forecast filed claims for jobless benefits last week, a sign the pace of improvement in the labor market is slowing.
Jobless claims increased 13,000 in the week ended April 7 to 380,000, the highest since Jan. 28, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey called for 355,000 claims. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls and those receiving extended payments declined.
A pickup in claims, following last week’s figures showing a smaller-than-projected rise in March employment, may make it difficult to boost the consumer spending that makes up 70 percent of the economy. The figures highlight Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s concern that stronger demand is required to fuel labor market gains.
“It’s going to be difficult in the immediate future to make a lot more progress on initial claims,” Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said before the report. “It’s quite likely we’ll see a pause in the declining claims because of the very warm weather. It’s still a gradual improvement in the labor market.”
Claims in the prior week were revised to 367,000 from a previously reported 357,000.
Estimates of the 46 economists in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 350,000 to 372,000. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, increased to 368,500 last week from 364,250.
A Labor Department spokesman said as the figures were released that there was “nothing unexpected” in the latest claims data.
Continuing Claims
The total number of people receiving jobless benefits fell by 98,000 in the week ended March 31 to 3.25 million.
In addition to the jobless claims, the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs decreased by about 34,000 to 3.22 million in the week ended March 24.
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, held at 2.6 percent, today’s report showed.
Nineteen states and territories reported an increase in claims, while 34 reported a decrease. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
The figures follow statistics on April 6 that showed employers added 120,000 jobs in March, half as many as in February and the fewest in five months.
Bernanke on Labor
Bernanke, in a speech to economists on March 26, said the recent employment gains have been a “welcome development. Still, conditions remain far from normal, as shown, for example, by the high level of long-term unemployment and the fact that jobs and hours worked remain well below pre-crisis peaks.”
“We cannot yet be sure that the recent pace of improvement in the labor market will be sustained,” Bernanke said, adding he was particularly concerned about the number people out of work for six months or longer.
Adecco Group North America, a division of Adecco SA (ADEN) in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, the world’s largest provider of temporary employees, said demand for workers is accelerating in some fields.
“We do continue to see increases in the healthcare and manufacturing areas,” Janette Marx, a senior vice president at the Melville, New York-based company said in an interview last week. “Those areas definitely have been showing some nice increases.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net; Alex Kowalski at in Washington or akowalski13@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net
