U.S. jobless claims fall,
reverse prior week's increase
Send a link to a friend
[April 07, 2016]
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - The number
of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected
last week, suggesting the labor market continued to strengthen despite
tepid economic growth.
|
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 9,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 267,000 for the week ended April 2, the Labor
Department said on Thursday. The prior week's claims were unrevised.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 270,000
in the latest week. Jobless claims have now been below 300,000, a
threshold associated with healthy labor market conditions, for 57
weeks, the longest stretch since 1973.
The strengthening labor market is drawing in discouraged and new job
seekers, which is likely to keep wage growth moderate and allow the
Federal Reserve to maintain its policy of gradually raising interest
rates.
Government data last week showed about 2.4 million people entered or
re-entered the job market between September and March, the
second-largest increase in the labor force over a six-month period
on record. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has argued that hidden labor
market slack was restraining wage growth.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors
influencing last week's claims data, and only claims for Louisiana
had been estimated.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure
of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose
3,500 to 266,750 last week.
[to top of second column] |
Employers added 215,000 jobs in March, on top of the 245,000
positions created in February, the government reported last week. An
increase in the labor force lifted the unemployment rate one-tenth
of a percentage point to 5 percent.
Thursday's claims report also showed the number of people still
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 19,000 to 2.19
million in the week ended March 26, but it remained in the lower end
of its range for this year. The four-week average of the so-called
continuing claims fell to
2.19 million.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|