US jobless claims near 4-year low

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments unexpectedly declined last week, indicating the labour market recovery was gaining traction. Applications for jobless benefits decreased 15,000 in the week ended February 4 to 358,000, labour department figures showed on Thursday. Economists forecast 370,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure of claims, declined to 366,250, the lowest since April 26, 2008.

The easing of dismissals is moving in tandem with a drop in the unemployment rate, which fell in January to a three-year low of 8.3 per cent. Job creation also accelerated last month, showing the world’s largest economy is making headway in restoring the 8.3 million jobs lost during the 2007-2009 recession.

“The recent positive momentum over the past two months is being sustained,” said Millan Mulraine, a senior US. strategist at TD Securities in New York, who projected 360,000 claims. “If we stay within this range, then we should see employment growth pick up.”

Estimates for first-time claims ranged from 355,000 to 385,000 in the Bloomberg survey of 48 economists. The labour department initially reported the prior week’s applications at 367,000. A labour department official on Thursday said there was “nothing unusual” among the state-reported data.

Stock-index futures held gains after the figures. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March rose 0.1 per cent to 1,348.5 at 8.34 am in New York. The yield on the benchmark 10-year treasury note climbed to 2.04 per cent from 1.98 per cent late yesterday.

Continuing claims
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits rose by 64,000 in the week ended January 28 to 3.52 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programmes.

Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments increased by about 18,650 to 3.5 million in the week ended January 21.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, rose to 2.8 per cent in the week ended January 28 from 2.7 per cent, on Thursday’s report showed. Twenty-seven states and territories reported a decrease in claims, while 26 had an increase.

Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to fall as job growth — measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report — accelerates.