Weekly Jobless Claims Jump
WASHINGTON (Feb. 20) - The number of Americans lining up for first-time jobless benefits jumped last week, the government said Thursday in a report that painted an unexpectedly downbeat picture of the labor market.
Initial claims for unemployment aid rose 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 402,000 for the week ended Feb. 15. The number was worse than the 382,000 expected by analysts. Some economists view claims above the 400,000 level as a sign of a deteriorating jobs market.
The four-week moving average, a more reliable guide to the health of the jobs market because it irons out weekly fluctuations, rose to 394,750, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week.
The Labor Department said it had to make claims estimates for a small number of states that had difficulty providing their numbers due to the snow storm on the East Coast. But the department said there was no reason to believe the numbers were skewed or that they would be subject to large revisions.
Markets were little affected by the claims numbers, which economists said did not necessarily mark a trend.
''We've had a number of weeks of fairly good jobless numbers, and it's not a surprise when there's a reversal,'' said Patrick Fearon, economist with A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis, Missouri.
The total number of unemployed workers remaining on benefits after filing an initial claim surged 147,000 to 3.44 million in the week ended Feb. 8, the latest week the data are available.
Other recent reports have offered a spotty picture of the labor market. Claims have been bouncing around the key 400,000 level for several months.
Earlier this month, the Labor Department said the economy added 143,000 jobs in January outside the farm sector, the largest monthly gain in more than two years. But economists cautioned that an unusual pattern of seasonal hiring helped drive the apparent improvement in January.
Few economists expect to see a real pick-up in the labor market until uncertainties over a possible war with Iraq have been cleared up.
Reut08:51 02-20-03
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