Applications for unemployment benefits at lowest level since July
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of Americans who applied last week for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since late July, but claims remained in a narrow range, suggesting little acceleration in a slowly healing labor market.
Initial jobless claims fell by 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000 in the week ended Sept. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a decline to 375,000.
The level of claims — a rough gauge of whether layoffs are rising or falling — is consistent with labor market that’s creating new work at a modest rate.
The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, fell by 4,000 to 374,000. The four-week figure smooths out volatility in the weekly number and paints a more accurate picture of labor-market trends.
New applications for benefits have ranged from around 360,000 to 390,000 over the past six months, indicating little change in the employment prospects since spring. The economy is creating just enough jobs to keep up with the growth of the working-age population, but little more than that.
What’s more, another slowdown in the U.S. economy and dim prospects for a pickup in growth before the end of the year suggests hiring won’t accelerate much until 2013. The unemployment rate, now 8.1%, is not expected to fall much in the near future.
In the week ended Sept. 8, continuing claims decreased by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.27 million. Continuing claims reflect the number of people who have already been receiving regular unemployment benefits. Most states typically offer 26 weeks of unemployment pay.
About 5.17 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended Sept. 1, barely changed from the prior week. Total claims are reported with a two-week lag.
New claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 385,000 from an original reading of 382,000.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.
