The number of U.S. people seeking
unemployment benefits went down last week due to the weakening
effects of superstorm Sandy, the U.S. Labor Department reported
Wednesday.
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for
jobless benefits was 410,000 in the week ending Nov. 17, down 41,000
from the previous week's revised figure.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out
week-to-week volatility, also increased dramatically to 396,250,
beyond the threshold of 375,000.
Jobless claims below 375,000 generally indicates a sustained drop
in the unemployment rate. Not until the previous week, have
applications mostly stayed slightly below that level since the
spring, a level consistent with modest job growth.
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment
during the week ending Nov.10 stood at 3.337 million, a decrease of
30,000 from the previous week.
The fresh jobless claims data reflected the lingering effects of
Sandy, which swept the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine in
late October, with a large number of applications filed in storm-
damaged areas.
Besides flagging global economy, concerns over a U.S. fiscal
cliff is also dampening the employment outlook. To boost anemic
economic growth and the labor market, the U.S. Federal Reserve
announced in September it would expand its holdings of mortgage debt
until the employment market has improved significantly.
