California posts nation's biggest drop in weekly jobless claims
1:09 PM PST Thursday
California posted the nation's largest drop in initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ended Dec. 25, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.
California jobless claims fell by 3,031, while nationwide, the number of new applications filed for unemployment benefits declined by a seasonally adjusted 5,000 to 326,000 for the week.
This uptick in the labor market was better than most economists had anticipated; claims had been expected to rise to about 335,000.
The decline in initial jobless claims compares to 331,000 applications filed a week earlier. Claims have averaged 343,000 a week this year compared with 402,000 in 2003.
The economy created an estimated 175,000 jobs this month following a gain of 112,000 in November.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a less-volatile measure of the labor market than the weekly figures, fell to 333,500 from 339,500.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits rose to 2.755 million in the week that ended Dec. 18 from 2.751 million a week earlier.
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.
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