THE ECONOMY
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
New Weekly Jobless Claims Decline: The number of Americans filing new claims for state jobless benefits fell by 47,000 last week to 366,000, almost erasing the large jump after the California earthquake, the Labor Department said. The sharp drop in first-time claims for the week ended Feb. 5 was the largest in more than five months. New claims for unemployment benefits had surged 50,000 to 413,000 the prior week, with about 20% of the increase in California. That jump helped push the closely watched average of claims over the last four weeks to 377,250, its highest level in 15 months.
