Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Decrease to Four-Year Low
By Timothy R. Homan and Bob Willis - Feb 16, 2012 8:30 AM ET
Claims for jobless benefits expectedly dropped last week to the lowest level in four years, showing the U.S. job market is on the mend.
Applications (INJCJC) for unemployment insurance payments decreased 13,000 in the week ended Feb. 11 to 348,000, less than the lowest forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and the fewest since March 2008, Labor Department figures showed today. The median survey estimate projected an increase to 365,000.
The slowdown in dismissals coincides with a pickup in hiring and a drop in unemployment that’s helping repair a labor market still recovering from the 18-month recession that ended in June 2009. More job gains are needed to boost household spending, the biggest part of the world’s largest economy.
“The improvement in the pace of claims reinforces the positive momentum that has been evident in other labor market indicators,” Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in New York, said before the report. The report is “further confirmation that the recent gains in employment growth are being sustained.”
Estimates for first-time claims ranged from 350,000 to 380,000 in the Bloomberg survey of 45 economists. The Labor Department revised the prior week’s reading up to 361,000 from an initially reported 358,000.
Wholesale prices rose less than forecast in January as food and energy costs dropped, a sign inflation pressures may remain subdued, another report from the Labor Department showed today.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-16/first-time-jobless-claims-in-u-s-unexpectedly-decrease-to-a-four-year-low.html
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