Jobless Claims Decline to Two-Month Low of 280,000
The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits plunged last week to a two-month low, a sign the labor market continues to strengthen.
Jobless claims decreased by 36,000 to 280,000 in the period ended Sept. 13, the Labor Department said. The median forecast of 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for decrease to 305,000. Those already collecting unemployment benefits fell to a more than seven-year low.
Companies are retaining workers as stronger household and corporate demand fuels order growth. Fewer firings and more job gains represent a labor market that has “improved somewhat further,” even as other indicators point to persistent slack, Federal Reserve policy makers said yesterday.
Claims have been “a sign of a reasonably good job market,” David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance said. “Other than the first quarter, we’ve had pretty good growth for the past year, so the job market is considerably better than it was.”
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 290,000 to 320,000. The prior week’s claims were revised from an initial reading of 315,000.
The four-week average of initial claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, decreased to 299,500 from 304,250 the week before.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 63,000 to 2.43 million in the week ended Sept. 6, the lowest since May 2007.
In that same period, the unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits fell to 1.8 % from a revised 1.9 % the prior week, the report showed.
Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and typically decrease before job growth can accelerate.
