US jobless claims continue to fall

By Benjamin Chiou

Date: Thursday 02 Feb 2012

US initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 last week to 367,000, the Department of Labor said today, in a sign that the labour market may be slowly recovering.

The reading compares with the previous week's revised figure of 379,000 (up from 377,000 previously), and below the consensus estimate of 371,000.

Claims have now fallen by a total of 47,000 from the third quarter average of 414,000, notes Barclays Capital (BarCap) analyst Peter Newland.

“The consistent downward trend in initial claims points to a gradually improving labour market,” he said.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average fell by 2,000 to 376,000, a level not seen since the summer of 2008.

Continuous unemployment claims, which include those claims that were not filed for the first time, fell by 130,000 to 3,437,000, below expectations of 3,560,000. The previous week’s reading was revised higher to 3,567,000 from 3,554,000.

The January employment report is due out tomorrow from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in which BarCap expects to see a 150,000 increase in non-farm payrolls and a fall in the unemployment rate to 8.4%.

BC

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