Fred Business News - The number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits showed an unexpected improvement last week although a key indicator of unemployment hit a four-year high.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits totaled 357,000 last week, some 18,000 fewer than the previous week. That pushed applications for benefits to their lowest level since mid-April.
However, the four-week average for people receiving benefits edged up to 3.086 million, the highest level since March 6, 2004, when the country was still struggling to recover from a prolonged period of rising unemployment.
The increase in so-called continuing claims underscored the problems people are facing with rising layoffs and the difficulty in finding new jobs in a weak economy.
Some analysts said the better-than-expected showing was an aberration that reflected problems the government has in adjusting the claims figures around holidays. Last week covered the Memorial Day holiday when state claims offices were closed.
"Claims will rebound over the next couple of weeks and the underlying trend will continue to grind slowly higher," said Ian Shepherdson, chief
Source; Cnn.com
About Fred: Fred is president of The I Team Organization. With a back ground in agriculture Fred has lead many successful business ventures.
