Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, raising the prospect that the sluggish labor market recovery may have picked up a bit. 
The New York Times 

Initial claims for state jobless benefits dropped 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000,Change tires in the comfort of your own garage with this tire changer ! the Labor Department said on Thursday. The previous week’s claims figure was revised to show that 2,000 more applications were received than previously reported. 

Last week’s drop in claims exceeded economists’ expectations for only a 6,000 decline and pushed first-time filings down to the lower end of their range for this year. 

“It does seem as if claims are trending down a bit,” said Sam Coffin, an economist at UBS. “We think payroll growth will pick up this year, and this sort of gradual downtrend in claims seems consistent with that.” 

The data offered more evidence that companies were no longer aggressively laying off workers. However, they appeared to be in no hurry to step up hiring against the backdrop of still lackluster demand. 

The economy has struggled to grow much more than 2 percent since the 2007-9 recession ended,Mobile crusher not only can apply on soft material, but also apply to the very large hardness material. and the jobless rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 7.9 percent in January. 

Job gains averaged 181,000 a month in 2012, far fewer than the minimum of 250,000 that economists say is needed to reduce the ranks of the unemployed significantly. 

Last week,Prepreg is made by impregnating fibers such as carbon cloth . the four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends, rose 1,500, to 352,500. The average had approached a five-year low in the previous week. 

The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid dropped 130,This is a sheet-shaped intermediate material made by impregnating carbon prepreg with thermoplastic resin.000, to 3.11 million,Shop for China 4x4 Accessories wholesalers at Target. Find auto interior accessories. in the week that ended Feb. 2. That was the lowest level since July 2008 and could be a function of people either finding jobs or exhausting their benefits.