Some hopeful news in a week starving for it. Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week than in the week before.
Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department revealed filings decreased by 7,000 to 216,000 in the week ending January 25, compared to revised 223,000 in the previous week and against markets expectations of 215,000 new claims.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly volatility and is therefore taken as more reliable, was 214,500, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised 216,250.
According to unadjusted data, the biggest declines in jobless claims were reported in California (-18,755), Illinois (-5,038) and Pennsylvania (-2,880) while the highest rises were seen in Oregon (376) and Kansas (352). Meantime, continuing jobless claims decreased by 44,000 to 1.703 million.
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