Jobless claims down
The Labor Department says there were 432,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Dec. 26, down 22,000 from the previous week's revised 454,000, and the lowest since July 19, 2008, when there were 413,000 claims filed. A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected claims to jump to 460,000. Jobless claims have been trending downward since the end of March, when they peaked at 674,000, the highest figure since 1982. 4,981,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Dec. 19, the most recent data available. That's 57,000 down from the preceding week's revised 5,038,000 claims. The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 122,250 to 5,101,250 from the previous week's revised 5,223,250. However, the fact that employers are running out of people to lay off isn't necessarily a good thing. The slide may signal that more filers are dropping off those rolls into extended benefits. The employment picture will continue to improve a s jobless claims continue to fall, but Tim Quinlan, economic analyst at Wells Fargo, said they will need to drop near 350,000 for positive job growth
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