Initial jobless claims drop more than expected

Initial jobless claims fell to the lowest level in six weeks as the rebound in the economy encourages companies to make fewer cuts in payrolls.

First-time jobless applications declined by 14,000 to 442,000 in the week ended March 20, lower than anticipated, Labor Department figures showed. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance decreased, and those getting extended benefits also fell.

Employers are slowing the pace of payroll reductions, indicating budding optimism in an economy that’s been lifted by a pickup in manufacturing and expansion overseas. Companies need to move beyond jobs cuts and start hiring to ensure the recovery from the deepest recession since the 1930s is sustained.

“The data are going mildly in the right direction, consistent with a very slow improvement in the labor market,” said Anna Piretti, a senior economist at BNP Paribas in New York. At the same time, “it’s not easing as much as we would have hoped.”

Economists forecast weekly claims would fall to 450,000, from a previously estimated 457,000 for the week ended March 13, according to the median of projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 425,000 to 470,000.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, decreased to 453,750 last week, the lowest level since September 2008, from 464,750.

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits decreased 54,000 in the week ended March 13 to 4.65 million, the lowest since Dec. 20, 2008. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

The number of people who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments fell by about 345,800 to 5.7 million in the week ended March 6.