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U.S. jobless claims inch down to 400,000

04 August 2011 18:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The number of U.S. people initially applying for unemployment aid last week declined modestly, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday, signaling the labor market is improving slowly, APA reports referring Xinhua.
The department said the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 400,000 in the week ending July 30, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure.
This is the lowest level in four months, given the prior week’s figure was revised up from 398,000 to 401,000.
Fewer than 425,000 people applying for aid is consistent with modest job growth, but the number of jobless claims will have to fall below 375,000 to signal a sustained drop in the unemployment rate.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, the more closely watched claims figure, was 407,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week.
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 23 was 3.73 million, an increase of 10,000 from one week earlier.
U.S. economic growth has slowed in recent months, dragging down the labor market’s recovery, and the unemployment rate in June rose to 9.2 percent.
The weekly figures of jobless benefits applications reflect the level of layoffs and indicate the real-time condition of the American job market.