U.S. Economy: Jobless claims rise for first time in six weeks
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Jobless claims increase
After last week’s “good news” regarding the unemployment rate, the U.S. economy now sees a new report where jobless claims rise for the first time in six weeks.
The report comes a week after data showing the official unemployment rate fell in November to 10.0 percent from 10.2 percent, suggesting the problems in the job market had peaked.
However, the initial numbers are disappointing because the jobless claims for this week were dismal as the consensus expectation was for another small decline to 455,000.
The report shows that new US claims for unemployment benefits rose in the past week but held below the level of 500,000, which government data showed yesterday. The Labor Department said that new unemployment claims in the week ending December 5 climbed to 474,000 from the prior week’s unrevised 457,000.
Private economists had expected a drop in new claims to 455,000. The report showed further stabilization of a labor market hit hard by the recession. The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell 7,750 to 473,750.
The insured unemployment rate was 3.9 percent for the week ending November 28, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week. Additionally, the number of people receiving benefits for the week to November 28 was 5,157,000, a decrease of 303,000 from the preceding week.
The weekly report offers an up-to-date snapshot of the job market, critical to US economic recovery from recession.
The report showed 11,000 jobs were lost in the month, a sharp drop from previous months.
Some 41 states and territories reported a decrease in claims, while 12 reported an increase.
Wisconsin, with 8,067 new initial claims, led the states reported the largest increases for the week ending Nov. 28.
The greatest decrease was in California, where 28,672 fewer claims were filed.
The general picture shows that the current level of jobless claims is not yet low enough to suggest that the economy is on balance with creating jobs rather than losing them.
The Americano / Agencies
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