08/22 08:30
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims at 389,000, Higher Than Expected
By Siobhan Hughes
Washington, Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) - A higher-than-expected number of people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, more evidence of a slow recovery from recession.
States received 389,000 initial applications, after a revised reading of 391,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. Economists had expected claims to fall to 385,000 from a previously reported 388,000.
The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to the highest level in more than a month. Companies such as Cingular Wireless and American Airlines have announced firings this month in an effort to cut costs.
``I don't know if we have seen the bottom in the jobs market,'' said William Sullivan, an economist at Morgan Stanley in Jersey City, New Jersey, before the report. ``There's just no hiring going on.''
The report is consistent with other data suggesting that the labor market remains sluggish. The unemployment rate rose to 5.9 percent in July. The percentage of consumers who saw jobs as hard to get rose in July to 24 percent, the highest in more than six years, according to a Conference Board survey.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits totaled 3.52 million in the week that ended Aug. 10, the second straight reading in excess of 3.5 million.
``A lot of times you get depressed,'' said Joseph Scarpati, a 33-year-old graphic designer who lost his job in January and has been unable to find another one. ``You start to self-doubt and question whether you were that good at what you did.''
Cingular, American
Workers in the telecommunications and travel industries have been hit especially hard. Cingular Wireless on Tuesday said that it plans to cut as many as 3,000 jobs. More than a third of the cuts would come through eliminating temporary positions and normal attrition.
American Airlines, owned by AMR Corp., earlier this month said it would eliminate 7,000 jobs. Its reductions are a response to U.S. airlines' worst slump since World War II. A sluggish economy has reduced demand, especially among business travelers, and pushed down fares.
Claims have averaged 405,000 so far this year, compared with 406,000 last year. Claims averaged 448,000 in 1991, when the U.S. was recovering from the previous recession. The labor force has expanded by more than 10 percent since then, which explains why unemployment remains below the peak of 7.8 percent seen after that recession.
Sullivan predicts a 6.3 percent to a 6.5 percent jobless rate by year-end.
The insured unemployment rate, which tends to track the U.S. jobless rate, held at 2.8 percent in the week that ended Aug. 10. It was 2.7 percent before that.
States, Territories
The Labor Department also said that 29 states and territories reported an increase in new claims during the week that ended Aug. 10, while 23 states and territories reported a decrease.
Weekly initial claims had climbed as high as 492,000 at the end of March, as a federal program that allowed unemployed workers to extend benefits for 13 weeks went into effect. To qualify for the U.S. government aid, Americans had to re-submit jobless applications. The number of people collecting those benefits rose to 1.5 million in the week that ended Aug. 10 from 1.3 million the prior week.
Continuing claims, the insured unemployment rate and state detail are reported with a one-week lag to initial claims.
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füxlein
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims at 389,000, Higher Than Expected
By Siobhan Hughes
Washington, Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) - A higher-than-expected number of people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, more evidence of a slow recovery from recession.
States received 389,000 initial applications, after a revised reading of 391,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. Economists had expected claims to fall to 385,000 from a previously reported 388,000.
The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to the highest level in more than a month. Companies such as Cingular Wireless and American Airlines have announced firings this month in an effort to cut costs.
``I don't know if we have seen the bottom in the jobs market,'' said William Sullivan, an economist at Morgan Stanley in Jersey City, New Jersey, before the report. ``There's just no hiring going on.''
The report is consistent with other data suggesting that the labor market remains sluggish. The unemployment rate rose to 5.9 percent in July. The percentage of consumers who saw jobs as hard to get rose in July to 24 percent, the highest in more than six years, according to a Conference Board survey.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits totaled 3.52 million in the week that ended Aug. 10, the second straight reading in excess of 3.5 million.
``A lot of times you get depressed,'' said Joseph Scarpati, a 33-year-old graphic designer who lost his job in January and has been unable to find another one. ``You start to self-doubt and question whether you were that good at what you did.''
Cingular, American
Workers in the telecommunications and travel industries have been hit especially hard. Cingular Wireless on Tuesday said that it plans to cut as many as 3,000 jobs. More than a third of the cuts would come through eliminating temporary positions and normal attrition.
American Airlines, owned by AMR Corp., earlier this month said it would eliminate 7,000 jobs. Its reductions are a response to U.S. airlines' worst slump since World War II. A sluggish economy has reduced demand, especially among business travelers, and pushed down fares.
Claims have averaged 405,000 so far this year, compared with 406,000 last year. Claims averaged 448,000 in 1991, when the U.S. was recovering from the previous recession. The labor force has expanded by more than 10 percent since then, which explains why unemployment remains below the peak of 7.8 percent seen after that recession.
Sullivan predicts a 6.3 percent to a 6.5 percent jobless rate by year-end.
The insured unemployment rate, which tends to track the U.S. jobless rate, held at 2.8 percent in the week that ended Aug. 10. It was 2.7 percent before that.
States, Territories
The Labor Department also said that 29 states and territories reported an increase in new claims during the week that ended Aug. 10, while 23 states and territories reported a decrease.
Weekly initial claims had climbed as high as 492,000 at the end of March, as a federal program that allowed unemployed workers to extend benefits for 13 weeks went into effect. To qualify for the U.S. government aid, Americans had to re-submit jobless applications. The number of people collecting those benefits rose to 1.5 million in the week that ended Aug. 10 from 1.3 million the prior week.
Continuing claims, the insured unemployment rate and state detail are reported with a one-week lag to initial claims.
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füxlein
