{"id":29164,"date":"2016-02-11T13:47:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T19:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=29164"},"modified":"2016-02-11T13:47:32","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T19:47:32","slug":"jobless-claims-decline-as-holiday-shakeout-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/jobless-claims-decline-as-holiday-shakeout-ends\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobless claims decline as holiday shakeout ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ashesha Mehrotra <\/strong> <\/p>\n

The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits last week dropped to a seven-week low last week, a better-than-expected performance that suggests the labor market is stabilizing after a period of post-holiday layoffs. <\/p>\n

In the week ended Feb. 6, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday, initial jobless claims declined by 16,000 from the previous week, to a seasonally adjusted 269,000. The number of claims was lower than the 280,000 that economists surveyed by Bloomberg had been expecting. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Weekly Claims for Unemployment Benefits, 2011-2016<\/h2>\n

[field name=”chart”]<\/p>\n

The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits week to week has decreased. (Ashesha Mehrotra\/MEDILL) <\/div>\n

Because the weekly jobs data tend to be volatile, many observers prefer to focus on the four-week moving average of claims., as a better indicator of underlying trends. The Labor Department said the four-week average declined by 3,500, to 281,250. <\/p>\n

Despite the recent fall in initial claims, analysts continue to predict a slowdown in the job market in times to come. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to look for some slowing in job growth over time,\u201d J.P.Morgan economist Daniel Silver said in a research note on Thursday, \u201cbut the recent improvement in the claims data supports our view that this softening will be modest rather than abrupt.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Silverman remains cautious about the recent boost in numbers, he did cite the downward tick of of the insured unemployment rate, to 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent n the prior week, as the \u201cmost favorable expansion to date.\u201d <\/p>\n

Continuing claims — the number of U.S. citizens who receive unemployment benefits on a weekly basis– trickled down by 21,000 to 2.23 million, Thursday\u2019s report said<\/p>\n

The numbers for Illinois, on the contrary, showed a marked deterioration: in the week ended Jan. 30, the state saw the largest increase in initial claims in the nation. Illinois claims shot up by 5,092. <\/p>\n

Unemployed queue in California. (Wikimedia<\/a>) <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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