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US new jobless claims up again
2009-10-22
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The seasonally adjusted number of jobless claims in the week to October 17 rose 2.1 percent or 11,000 to 531,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 520,000, the Labor Department said. It was higher than the 515,000 forecast by most economists. The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, however fell slightly to 532,250 -- a drop of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 533,000. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also shrank. The Labor Department's figures showed the number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 10 was was 5.923 million, a decrease of 98,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6.021 million. The department also said the country's insured unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 4.6 percent. The weekly report offers one of the most up-to-date snapshots of the job market, critical to the recovery of the US economy which has been in recession since December 2007. For the labor market to balance, some say claims should reach around 350,000. But analysts said that the latest data, although depressing, does not alter the downward trend in claims. "Slightly disappointing but it does not change the core story, which is that after something of a hiatus in the summer, a clear downward trend in claims has emerged again over the past couple of months," said Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist with High Frequency Economics. "This is a very welcome development but claims are still much too high to expect the drop in payrolls to end in the near future. "We need to see the trend established below 400,000 or so before we can be confident net job losses will slow to zero," Shepherdson said. Unemployment remains a key hurdle to recovery, with latest monthly figures in September pushing to jobless rate to a new 26-year high of 9.8 percent with job losses accelerating to 263,000. Since the start of the recession nearly two years ago, the number of unemployed has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million.
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 New jobless claims fall unexpectedly to 457K (2009-12-03) | | New $100 billion safety net for jobless in works (2009-12-01) | | Weekly jobless claims drop below 500,000 (2009-11-25) | | Electronic Arts to cut 1,500 jobs (2009-11-09) | | Jobless rate tops 10 pct. for first time since '83 (2009-11-06) | | Obama: Hiring last to come as economy rebounds (2009-11-02) | | US Airways, American Airlines cut 1,700 jobs (2009-10-28) |  US new jobless claims up again (2009-10-22) | | Obama looking at all options for creating jobs (2009-10-18) | | New jobless claims fall to 521K, lowest since Jan. (2009-10-08) | | Jobless claims hit 9-month low, retail sales rise (2009-10-08) | | Even as layoffs persist, some good jobs go begging (2009-10-04) | | U.S. jobless rate hits 26-year high of 9.8 percent (2009-10-03) | | US jobs picture may worsen in coming months: Obama (2009-09-20) | | New jobless claims drop unexpectedly to 545K (2009-09-17) | | For the jobless, Labor Day is hardly a holiday (2009-09-05) | | 10 Least Competitive Job Markets (2009-08-18) | | Lockheed Martin aerospace division to cut 800 jobs (2009-08-17) | | Jobless NYC woman sues college for $70K in tuition (2009-08-03) | | More Job Seekers Are Relocating For Work (2009-07-27) | | The End of Unemployment Benefits: 5 Things to Know (2009-07-27) | | New jobless claims rise to 554K, total rolls fall (2009-07-23) | | Identity Thieves Target Job Seekers (2009-07-15) | | Crisis spurs people to work for free - good or bad? (2009-07-13) | | Jobless claims drop, data skewed by auto jobs (2009-07-09) |
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