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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (46137)	5/3/2001 9:55:21 AM
From: michael97123	Respond to of 70976

Rear View Look at the Jobs data--last time this bad when "recovering" from brief early 90's recession--Interest rate cut of another 1/2 point expected at may fed meeting --Very little to do with nasdaq and interest rate cut is a good thing--market will rally today or tomorrow and make new interim highs imo Thursday May 3, 9:45 am Eastern Time US 4-week jobless claims data highest since Oct 1992 (UPDATE: Adds details from report, background) By Nancy Waitz WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - New U.S. unemployment applications jumped unexpectedly last week, while a longer-term barometer of labor trends shot to its highest since the United States was recovering from a brief recession in the early 1990s, a government report showed on Thursday. In the latest sign the once drum-tight labor market is softening, first-time jobless claims, a report that gives an early reading on the resilience of the labor market, rose 9,000 to 421,000 in the week ended April 28 from a revised 412,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said. Private economists surveyed by Reuters had expected claims to drop to 400,000. The figure was at its highest point since 428,000 in the week of March 23, 1996, when members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike against General Motors Corp. The closely watched four-week moving average for the April 28 week rose for the fifth straight week to 404,500 from 395,250 in the prior week, and its highest since 406,750 in the week of Oct. 10, 1992. Economists consider the four-week moving average a more reliable indicator of job market trends because it irons out weekly fluctuations. In a sign the pace of hiring remains slow, the number of continued claims -- those who have already claimed a week of benefits -- remain at levels last seen since March 23, 1996 when claims measured 2,711,000. Continued claims rose to 2,682,000 in the April 21 week -- the latest week for which figures are available -- from 2,644,000 in the prior week. Friday's payrolls report should garner close attention from Federal Reserve policymakers as they weigh their next move on interest rates. So far this year, the Fed has cut interest rates four times, or a total of 2 percentage points, to help shore up a softening economy. Analysts expect central bankers to cut further when they next meet on May 15, with some seeing as much as a half-drop point cut following an expected weak April jobs report. In a Reuters poll, economists predicted the April unemployment rate would rise to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent reported for March and show a growth of only 5,000 jobs outside the farm sector after a decline of 86,000 in March. The monthly report gives a broad look at labor-market conditions throughout the economy. The department said 11 states reported an increase in jobless claims of 1,000 or more in the week ended April 21 -- the latest for which figures are available -- led by New York with more 10,748 claims in the educational services industry. In the same week, six states reported a decrease in claims of 1,000 or more led by Michigan with 8,128 fewer claims in the automobile industry.