US jobless filings fall to lowest
Source: Agencies |
December 9, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nine months, the latest evidence that the job market is improving.
The Labor Department said yesterday that weekly applications dropped by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000. That's the lowest number of applications since late February.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell for the ninth time in 11 weeks to 393,250. That's the lowest average since early April. Applications that drop below 375,000 - consistently - tend to correlate with a steady decline in the jobless rate.
"There have been numerous indications that the labor market is healing and today's jobless claims report only reinforces that view," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, a trading firm.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, the government said last week, down from 9 percent the previous month. That's the lowest rate in two-and-a-half years.
Still, the unemployment rate dropped last month in part because more people gave up looking for work. Once the unemployed stop looking for jobs and drop out of the work force, they are no longer counted as unemployed.
Employers added a net total of 120,000 jobs last month. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row - the first time that has happened since April 2006.
The report on hiring gains followed other positive signs. Manufacturing firms are boosting output and retailers reported a strong start to the holiday shopping season. Consumer confidence jumped in November to the highest level since July, and Americans' pay rose in October by the most in seven months.
The Labor Department said yesterday that weekly applications dropped by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000. That's the lowest number of applications since late February.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell for the ninth time in 11 weeks to 393,250. That's the lowest average since early April. Applications that drop below 375,000 - consistently - tend to correlate with a steady decline in the jobless rate.
"There have been numerous indications that the labor market is healing and today's jobless claims report only reinforces that view," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, a trading firm.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, the government said last week, down from 9 percent the previous month. That's the lowest rate in two-and-a-half years.
Still, the unemployment rate dropped last month in part because more people gave up looking for work. Once the unemployed stop looking for jobs and drop out of the work force, they are no longer counted as unemployed.
Employers added a net total of 120,000 jobs last month. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row - the first time that has happened since April 2006.
The report on hiring gains followed other positive signs. Manufacturing firms are boosting output and retailers reported a strong start to the holiday shopping season. Consumer confidence jumped in November to the highest level since July, and Americans' pay rose in October by the most in seven months.
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