Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in three months, a signal the labor market may be starting to mend.
Initial jobless claims decreased by 21,000 to 434,000 in the week ended Oct. 23, the lowest since early July when fewer auto plants than normal closed for retooling, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance dropped to a two-year low, while those getting extended payments also fell.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, is beginning to gain speed and may give companies reason to increase payrolls heading into the holiday shopping season. Ford Motor Co. is among companies planning to add staff as sales improve.
“Job growth is modest right now, but it should improve,” Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. in Holland, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “People will be surprised at how much better the labor market looks like in six months.”
Stock-index futures added to earlier gains after the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in December rose 0.6 percent to 1,186.2 at 8:36 a.m. in New York. Treasury securities also rose, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down to 2.70 percent from 2.72 percent late yesterday.
Natural Gas --
Natural gas stockpile levels rose last week as analysts expected, the government said Thursday.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states grew by 71 billion cubic feet to 3.754 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Oct. 22.
Analysts expected a rise of between 70 billion and 74 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
The inventory level was 9.1 percent above the five-year average of 3.442 trillion cubic feet, and about the same as the storage level a year ago, according to the government data.
Natural gas rose 3.2 cents $3.795 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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