Number of Americans filing jobless claims dip to two-year low

U.S. jobless claims dip to two-year low

In what is a positive sign for the economic rebound ahead of the new year, the number of unemployment benefit claims fell to its lowest mark in more than two years according to a Labor Department report. A total of 388,000 claims were logged this week, about 34,000 less than last week. Jobless claims are being watched closely along with other indicators since it shows how many Americans are let go by their employers and with no alternative jobs to turn to. Before the downturn, the weekly average of claims was 300,000 but this doubled in number in early 2009 during the recession. It has been steadily dropping from 400,000 since, the seasonally adjusted data from the Labor Department shows. In other positive economic measures, pending home sales climbed 3.5 percent in November, data from the National Association of Realtors said. The figure may herald an uptick in property transactions during the first months of 2011. The Chicago purchasing managers' index meanwhile showed that production is expanding and more manufacturing jobs are being generated. Yet that would hardly make a dent in the overall job market as the unemployment rate is projected to remain high. Analysts foresee the U.S. economic recovery to be slow. But more optimistic data on consumer confidence and business expansion as the year comes to a close could give it more momentum. Job forecast ahead of a Labor Department report on January 7 is about 100,000 for the month of December in the private sector, a sharp rise from 50,000 in November.

Posted by James Fried on Friday December 31 2010, 2:20 AM EST. Ref: Christian Science Monitor. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0