The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than a year, a sign companies are holding on to workers as the economic recovery unfolds.
Initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to 457,000 in the week ended Nov. 28, the fewest since September 2008, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance rose in the prior week, and those getting additional payments jumped as some states started reporting figures on the government’s latest extension.
Companies are less likely to fire workers as the economy emerges from the worst recession since the 1930s. They’re also reluctant to add to payrolls, government data may show tomorrow.
Employers shed another 125,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate held at a 26-year high of 10.2%, economists forecast the Labor Department to report.
Economists forecast claims would rise to 480,000 from the 466,000 previously reported for the prior week, according to the median of 41 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 450,000 to 500,000.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday-shortened week, the Labor Department projected claims would drop. The decrease in unadjusted data was even larger then predicted, leading to the drop in the adjusted figures, a Labor Department spokesman said.
The holiday season is traditionally a volatile time for claims, the spokesman said, and the government projects this week will show the largest jump in unadjusted claims for any week of the year.
The productivity of U.S. workers increased in the third quarter at the fastest pace in six years as companies squeezed more out of remaining staff to fuel profits, another Labor Department report showed. Productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, rose at an 8.1% annual rate. Labor costs fell at a 2.5% pace.
Today’s report showed the four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 481,250 last week from 495,500 the prior week.
Continuing claims rose by 28,000 in the week ended Nov. 21 to 5.47 million.
The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs. Today’s report showed the number of people who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting extended payments jumped by 323,000 to 4.46 million in the week ended Nov. 14.
A government report tomorrow may show the U.S. lost the fewest jobs in more than year, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings. They have risen as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report-- has been negative since January 2008.
