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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BubbaFred who wrote (25809)	3/17/2005 9:09:32 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

U.S. weekly jobless claims fall to 318,000, down 10,000 - Thursday, March 17, 2005 2:02:17 PM afxpress.com WASHINGTON (AFX) -- U.S. initial jobless claims fell 10,000 last week to 318,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of new claims rose 3,750 to 316,500 for the week ended March 12, the highest reading since Jan. 25. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been expecting claims to fall to 316,000. The number of people still collecting unemployment benefits fell by 48,000 to 2.65 million, as of the week ended March 5 The insured unemployment rate, meanwhile, was unchanged at 2.1 percent. The jobless claims data show improvement in labor market conditions. Layoffs, as represented by initial claims for state unemployment benefits, have declined about 8 percent over the past year, from about 342,000 to 316,500 currently Continuing claims, which give a flavor of hiring trends in the U.S. economy, have fallen about 13 percent from 3.1 million a year ago. The seasonally adjusted four-week moving average for continuing claims, amounting to 2.67 million, was last this low on April 21, 2001, according to the Labor Department. The Federal Reserve had been focused on the weak labor market for much of the past four years. But recent comments by Fed officials indicate that they are satisfied with the improvements in job growth and are now focused on inflationary signals The Fed is expected to raise its short-term interest rate target to 2.75 percent at the central bank's next policysetting meeting on March 22.