Jobless claims at 10-month high
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 9:43 AM ET March 20, 2003
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a 10-month high in the week ended March 15, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted four-week average for initial claims increased 3,750 to stand at 424,750, the most since May. Claims have risen by about 40,000 over the past six weeks. Read more.
The number of first-time claims in the most recent week fell by 4,000 to the 421,000 level, the lowest in three weeks.
The four-week average is considered a more accurate reflection of the labor market's relative strength, as it smoothes out weekly fluctuations caused by weather, holidays or other one-time factors.
Little job growth is possible as long as claims average more than 400,000 a week, economists say. In February, the economy lost 308,000 jobs, according to government data.
"The labor market took a turn for the worse in February and the deterioration is continuing in March," said Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Economy.com. "Layoff activity remains at a recessionary level, while new hiring has yet to pick up."
Others said the data wasn't awful. "It is not clear that the pace of layoffs has accelerated in March," said Steve Stanley, an economist at RBS Greenwich Capital. "A significant portion of last month's plunge in payrolls could be reversed in March and/or April."
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted four-week average of workers receiving state benefits rose by about 33,000 in the week ended March 8, reaching 3.46 million. This was the highest reading since late November.
The number of people receiving benefits in the most recent week increased by 66,00 to 3.55 million, the most since mid-November.
The figures do not include some 740,000 workers who have been receiving federal unemployment benefits that kick in after the exhaustion of six months of state benefits.
While many economic statistics have weakened in recent months, only the weak labor market was mentioned specifically by the Federal Open Market Committee in its statement on Tuesday.
The Federal Reserve is carefully watching labor market indicators, such as weekly jobless claims data and monthly payroll figures, as part of the central bank's "heightened surveillance" of the economy.
The Fed kept its interest-rate target steady at 1.25 percent and declined to offer an assessment of the risks to the economy, citing the cloud of war-related anxiety.
Jobless benefits are available to a fraction of unemployed workers. In February, 8.4 million Americans were classified as unemployed, including nearly 1.9 million who've been out of work for longer than six months.
People are considered unemployed only if they are available and actively looking for work.
The nation's official unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in February.
Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of CBS.MarketWatch.com.
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