Initial Jobless Claims Jump by 30,000, the Most Since 2002
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits, after having fallen to the lowest level in four years, shot up last week by the biggest amount since late 2002. The new report dealt a setback to hopes that the economy was finally beginning to produce a sustained recovery in jobs.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 30,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted level of 360,000.
The increase was far above the rise of 7,000 that economists had been expecting, but analysts cautioned against reading too much into a single week’s change in the volatile series. Labor Department analysts noted that the period covered was the first week in a new quarter, a time when the jobless claims can be even more volatile.
The four-week moving average for new claims, viewed as a better gauge of trends because it smooths out some of the volatility, was up by a smaller 6,750, to 344,250, the highest level since early March.
Economists are hoping that the strong economic growth that began last summer will finally persuade businesses to begin rehiring laid-off workers, something that President Bush and other incumbents running for reelection also are hoping to see as evidence that the nation’s long jobs slump is finally coming to an end.
The biggest sign yet that the labor market has turned the corner was the news earlier this month that 308,000 U.S. payroll jobs were created in March, the biggest gain in four years.
Even with that increase, the nation’s unemployment rate rose by a tenth of a point to 5.7% as the improving jobs picture encouraged people who had dropped out of the labor market to resume looking for work.
The 360,000 Americans who filed for jobless benefits last week represented the largest number since early February.
The increase of 30,000 claims, after a decline of 13,000 the week before, was the biggest one-week jump since a rise of 42,000 in the week of Dec. 7, 2002, when the economy was still struggling to rebound from the 2001 recession.
