It News: Jobless Claims In U.S. Little Changed As Market Stable

August 16, 2012

Jobless Claims In U.S. Little Changed As Market Stable

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Jobless Claims In U.S. Little Changed As Market By Stable

Michelle Jamrisko and Shobhana Chandra - Aug 16

Jobless Claims in U.S. Little Changed as Labor Market Stabilizes

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits was little changed last week, bringing the average over the past month to the lowest level since late March, a sign the labor market has stabilized after employment picked up in July.

Jobless claims climbed by 2,000 to 366,000 in the week ended Aug. 11, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News
called for an increase to 365,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 363,750, the fewest since the week ended March 31.
Employers may be limiting firings as the pace of sales warrants keeping current staff levels, which will probably underpin consumer spending. A pickup in demand and an agreement to forestall the fiscal cliff of tax increases and government spending cuts following the presidential election will probably be needed to induce an increase in hiring.
“Claims look to have settled into a lower range,” Eric Green, head of global foreign exchange and interest-rate research at TD Securities in New York, said in a e-mailed note. It indicates “job growth is not set to weaken further, and could push above the artificially low trend of the past four months.”
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 350,000 to 375,000. The Labor Department revised the previous week’s figure up to 364,000 from an initially reported 361,000.
A spokesman for the Labor Department said there was nothing unusual in the data last week.
Fewer Starts
Housing starts fell 1.1 percent to a 746,000 annual rate in July, a report from the Commerce Department also showed today.
Stock-index futures extended earlier gains after the reports. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index maturing in September rose 0.3 percent to 1,407.1 at 8:32 a.m. in New York.
Employers added 163,000 workers last month, the biggest gain since February, according to the Labor Department jobs report issued earlier this month. The figures also showed the jobless rate climbed to a five-month high of 8.3 percent.
Unemployment has been above 8 percent since February 2009 - - the longest stretch in the post-World War II era.
Today’s report showed the number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits declined by 31,000 in the week ended Aug. 4 to 3.31 million.

The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments decreased by about 63,900 to 2.36 million in the week ended July 28.
Jobless Rate
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 2.6 percent, today’s report showed.
Sixteen states and territories reported a decline in claims, while 36 reported an increase. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to fall as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report -- accelerates.
Google Inc. (GOOG) and FedEx Corp. (FDX) are among companies planning to trim payrolls.

Mountain View, California-based Google will cut about 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. unit, or 20 percent of the staff at the company it bought for about $12.5 billion, according to an Aug. 13 regulatory filing. About one-third of the reductions will be in the U.S. workforce.
FedEx, the world’s largest cargo airline, will offer voluntary buyouts to some workers under a pledge for “significant” cost reductions ahead of expected slower profit growth. Offers may not be made until FedEx’s fiscal fourth quarter starting in March, Shea Leordeanu, a spokeswoman for the Memphis, Tennessee-based company, said in an Aug. 13 interview with Bloomberg News.
Fed’s View
The Federal Open Market Committee pledged “additional accommodation as needed” on Aug. 1 in order to sustain the expansion. Policy makers next meet on Sept. 12-13.
Fed officials “will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments” in order to “promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability,” it said in a statement. The group “expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up very gradually.”