Unemployment Claims Fall to 397,000 – Weak Signs of a Recovery?

blr-editor | November 6, 2011 | Comments (0)

A small dip in the number of first-time filers is welcome, but makes little dent in the overall picture

In a bit of good news for the U.S economy, the number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits fell in the week ending September 17 to 397,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s spike of 406,000.

This number falls below the psychologically important 400,000 benchmark even as President Obama faces Republican-led opposition to his jobs bill.

The 4-week moving average also fell to 404,500, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 406,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9% for the week ending September 10, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate.

Continuing claims – which include people filing for the second week of benefits or more during the week ending September 10 was 3,683,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,698,000.

The 4-week moving average was 3,703,250, an decrease of 10,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,713,750.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 22 were in California (+7,176), New York (+2,494), Illinois (+2,057), Georgia (+1,642), and Pennsylvania (+1,579).

The largest decreases were in Florida (-2,230), Puerto Rico (-1,393), Washington (-898), Arizona (-735), and Arkansas (-567).

It may be a little early to talk about “green shoots” of a recovering economy, but these numbers push back the talk of a new recession back for a little while.

In any case, all eyes are on the Eurozone mess and how it turns out in the coming weeks.