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DJ DATA SNAP: US Jobless Claims Rise 26K To 436K In Nov. 27 Week
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By Jeffrey Sparshott and Sarah N. Lynch
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by more than expected last week, though the longer term trend continues to indicate a decline in the number of layoffs across the country.
Initial unemployment claims climbed by 26,000 to 436,000 in the week ended Nov. 27, the Labor Department said Thursday in its weekly report. The previous week's figures were revised up to 410,000 from 407,000.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected claims would rise by 16,000.
The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out fluctuations in the data, decreased by 5,750 to 431,000 from the prior week's revised average of 436,750. The four-week average hasn't been that low since Aug. 2, 2008, before Lehman Brothers collapsed.
Despite the jump in claims for the week, recent data suggest the labor market is steadily, if slowly, improving. U.S. private employers added a stronger-than-forecast 93,000 jobs in November, the biggest rise since November 2007, payroll giant Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) said Wednesday in a report.
And in October, nonfarm payrolls rose by 151,000 thanks to gains in private-sector hiring. Economists think the Labor Department will say that payrolls climbed by another 144,000 when it reports November figures on Friday.
Still, the slow pace of job creation hasn't been enough to dent unemployment, stuck at 9.6% in October for the third consecutive month. Employers are waiting for clearer signs that the economy is expanding before adding significantly to payrolls, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its latest beige book.
Meanwhile, the law that temporarily extended unemployment benefits to as long as 99 weeks expired this week after Democratic and Republican senators blocked rival attempts to renew it. That means that extended jobless benefits affecting about 2 million people are set to expire by the end of the year.
Without an extension, jobless workers in most states would receive a maximum of 26 weeks of benefits through their regular state programs.
Benefits lapsed for over a month last summer as Congress fought out the final measure, and lawmakers could still reach a compromise.
Congress initiated federal extended benefits in July 2008.
In other news in Thursday's claims report, the number of continuing claims--those drawn by workers for more than one week in the week ended Nov. 20--rose by 53,000 to 4,270,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,217,000. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.
The unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance for the week ended Nov. 20 was 3.4%, unchanged from the previous week's revised rate.
The report's state-by-state breakdown of new claims, which is also reported with a one-week-lag, showed that California had the largest increase in claims--4,442--due to layoffs in the service industry and a return to a five-day work week.
Indiana had the largest decrease in claims with a fall of 1,161. The decline was not explained.
Data for Alaska and Washington state were estimated for the week ending Nov. 27, a Labor Department economist said.
The Labor Department report on jobless claims can be accessed at: dol.gov
-By Jeffrey Sparshott and Sarah N. Lynch; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9291; jeffrey.sparshott@dowjones.com
(Corey Boles contributed to this article.)
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