Ci sono giorni per la fretta e giorni per la calma.... il difficile è capire quando una e quando l'altra
Friday December 8, 2:38 AM
Jobless claims fell 34,000 last week
By Nancy Waitz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers seeking first-time jobless benefits plunged last week, as expected, after surging the prior week during the start of the holiday season, a government report showed on Thursday.
First-time claims for state unemployment aid fell by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000 in the week ended December 2, the Labor Department said. The decline was in line with forecasts from Wall Street economists.
While claims fell last week, a four-week moving average that provides a better gauge of labor market trends, which are particularly hard to discern through the holiday season, hit its highest level since May. It moved up to 328,750 from 325,250 in the prior week, the sixth straight weekly gain.
"There is at least a suggestion in the numbers that the trend in layoffs might be starting to rise," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York, said in a research note.
U.S. stock and Treasury debt prices were little changed following the data as financial markets turned their attention to the government's November employment report due on Friday, which will offer a broader look at labor-market conditions.
Economists polled by Reuters on December 1 forecast November's unemployment rate to rise to 4.5 percent from October's 4.4 percent, with 110,000 jobs created outside the farm sector. That compares with 92,000 jobs created in October.
Some economists, however, bumped up their job-growth estimates on the back of a report on Wednesday suggesting a more vigorous pace of hiring by private employers.
Still, traders on Thursday participating in a derivatives auction bet the Labor Department report, which captures both private-sector and government jobs, would show payrolls expanded by only 85,200 workers.
The jobless claims data -- and the monthly jobs report on Friday -- are among the final pieces of data to be published before Federal Reserve policy-makers meet on December 12 to weigh their next move on interest rates.
Analysts expect the U.S. central bank to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent, but will eye the Fed's announcement closely for clues on the future.
A Labor Department official said there were no special factors to account for the decline in initial jobless claims last week, but noted the report is typically volatile during this time of year.
The report showed the number of people who remained on the benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid rose 57,000 to 2.52 million in the week ended November 25, the latest week for which these figures were available.
Separately, the Monster Employment Index, which tracks job vacancies posted online, rose to 175 last month from 172 in October.
The year-on-year gain, however, was the slimmest since its inception in October 2003. Online recruiting firm Monster said this was consistent with other recent data showing slowing U.S. economic growth.