Jobless claims drop, but so do durable good orders
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The number of idled workers seeking jobless benefits for the first time fell 19,000 last week, dragged down in the wake of Hurricane Isabel, to its lowest level since early February, the government said Thursday.
First-time claims, which give an early reading on the resilience of the labor market, fell steeper than expected to 381,000 in the Sept. 20 week, down from a revised 400,000 a week earlier, and to its lowest since 378,000 in the Feb. 8 week. Wall Street economists forecast new claims at 400,000 compared to the original estimate of 399,000.
"About 50% of the decline is a result of the power outages from Hurricane Isabel that forced the closure of state offices in such areas as North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia," said a Labor Department spokesman.
But a second report was not as strong. New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods took a surprise tumble last month as demand for automobiles dropped sharply, a government report showed.
Orders for durable goods, items intended to last three years or more, decreased 0.9% in August, the Commerce Department said. It was the first decline since April and bucked expectations on Wall Street for a 0.6% rise.
In August, orders excluding transportation fell a more modest 0.3%. The department said demand for transportation equipment dropped 2.2%, pulled down by a 7.5% plunge in orders for motor vehicles and a 9.6% falloff in orders for civilian aircraft.
Overall capital goods orders rose 2.2%, but a 35.3% increase for the military was behind the gain.
Non-defense capital goods orders actually fell 2% and those orders excluding aircraft, which many economists look to as a sign of business investment plans, slid 0.8%. The report suggested a long-sought pickup in business spending was proving a bit weaker than many had hoped.
Federal Reserve officials had welcomed the recent pickup in capital goods orders as a sign a long dearth in business spending was finally easing. A collapse in business investment led the economy into recession in early 2001 and officials have said a revival is needed to ensure a broad-based, sustainable economic expansion.
In the jobless claims report, the closely watched four-week moving average, regarded by economists as a truer reflection of the market than the more volatile weekly figure, fell to 407,000 in the Sept. 20 week from 411,000 in the previous week, and was above the key 400,000 mark for the fourth straight week.
Economists view claims above the 400,000 mark as a sign of a lackluster jobs market.
Analysts predicted the September payrolls report would show the economy shed 15,000 jobs outside the farm sector after losing 93,000 the month before. The employment rate is expected to rise to 6.2% after 6.1% in August.
Labor's employment situation for September is scheduled for release on Oct. 3.
The number of people continuing to draw a week of benefits fell by 28,000 to 3.63 million in the Sept. 13 week, the latest week for which figures are available. But the overall trend remains high suggesting people are still having a tough time finding work. |
