Jobless Claims in U.S. Decrease More Than Forecast

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By Bob Willis

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Fewer Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, a sign job losses are slowing as the economy begins to recover.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ended Oct. 31, the fewest since January, from 532,000 the prior week. The number of people receiving jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since March, while those who had exhausted their allotment and were receiving extended payments climbed, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

Government stimulus measures such as the homebuyer tax credit are boosting consumer demand, helping to pull the economy out of its worst recession in seven decades. The government may report tomorrow that employers last month cut the fewest jobs in more than a year.

“We’ve been on a pretty solid downward trend of initial jobless claims,” Ellen Zentner, a senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., said in a interview with Bloomberg Radio in New York. “The recovery has taken hold.”

Stock-index futures extended gains after the claims data and a separate report showing worker productivity surged in the third quarter at the fastest pace in six years. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 0.3 percent to 1,050.20 at 8:54 a.m. in New York.

Worker productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, rose at a 9.5 percent annual rate, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed and the biggest jump in six years. Labor costs fell at a 5.2 percent pace, capping the biggest 12-month drop since records began in 1948, the Labor Department said.

Economists’ Forecasts

Economists forecast claims would fall to 522,000 from 530,000 a week earlier, according to the median of 42 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 510,000 to 535,000.

Continuing claims dropped to 5.75 million in the week ended Oct. 24, as forecast, from 5.82 million the prior week. The reading was the lowest since the week ended March 21.

Those figures don’t include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs. The number of people who’ve used up their benefits and are now collecting extended payments climbed by 115,000 to 4.01 million in the week ended Oct. 17 from the prior week, today’s report showed.

The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a $45 billion plan to expand a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, extend jobless benefits and provide tax refunds to money-losing companies. Lawmakers voted 98-0 for the measure, sending it to the House, where Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said in a statement it will receive a vote as early as today.

Stimulus Plan

The plan would be the first major extension of provisions in February’s economic stimulus plan. The measure includes $2.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits for as many as 20 weeks, enough to aid the jobless through the holiday season.

The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, decreased to 523,750 last week from 526,750.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, held at 4.4 percent in the week ended Oct. 24.

Thirty-seven states and territories reported an increase in claims, while 16 reported a decrease. These data are reported with a one-week lag.

Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to rise as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report -- slows. The economy has lost 7.2 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

Payroll Outlook

Another 175,000 jobs were probably lost in the month of October and unemployment probably rose to a 26-year high of 9.9 percent, economists forecast before tomorrow’s Labor Department payrolls report. That compares with 263,000 jobs lost in September and would be the smallest drop since August 2008.

Data such as home, car and retail sales suggest demand is reviving and the economy is recovering. The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5 percent pace from July through September, after shrinking the previous four quarters, figures from the Commerce Department showed last week. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast growth to average about 2.4 percent through next year.

Companies continue to trim payrolls to cut costs. Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, began a round of about 800 job cuts yesterday that, when completed, would bring total reductions to about 5,800. The latest round marks the end of a program announced on Jan. 22, after Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said the company faced the most challenging economy in its history.

Job Cuts

Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, will eliminate dozens of employees in its wholesale division after losing customers. The job cuts will number less than 100 at the 575-member group, Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman at Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint, said this week.

“Businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment and staffing, though at a slower pace,” Federal Reserve policy makers said yesterday in announcing they planned to hold interest rates low for an “extended period.” Consumer spending “appears to be expanding but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, sluggish income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit,” they said.

菜刀

马上过节了，这段时间layoff 和 雇用都是较少的时间

xnz

AGA7d

It is not a very good indicator on employment.

xiaoshitou

马上过节了，这段时间layoff 和 雇用都是较少的时间
菜刀 发表于 2009-11-5 12:49

节前laid off的不会少。