.U.S. Jobless Claims Drop to 339,000 in Latest Week
October 11,2012

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By Sarah Portlock and Tom Barkley

WASHINGTON–The number of U.S. workers filing applications for jobless benefits fell last week, a hopeful sign for the job market following the recent drop in the unemployment rate to its lowest level since January 2009.

Initial jobless claims–a measure of layoffs–were down by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000 in the week ended Oct. 6, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast 365,000 new applications for jobless benefits last week.

However, the report may not be as positive as the sharp drop indicates. A Labor Department economist said one large state didn’t report additional quarterly figures as expected, accounting for a substantial part of the decrease.

Claims for the week ended Sept. 29 were revised up to 369,000 from an initially reported 367,000.

The four-week moving average of claims–which smoothes out volatile weekly data–fell to 364,000, the lowest level since the week ended March 31.

Last week, the Labor Department reported the country’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.8% in September, the lowest number since January 2009. That report also said payrolls–which are obtained in a separate survey of employers–increased by a seasonally adjusted 114,000 jobs last month.

Thursday’s jobless claims data showed the number of continuing unemployment benefit claims–those drawn by workers for more than a week–fell by 15,000 to 3,273,000 in the week ended Sept. 29. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.

The number of workers requesting unemployment insurance was equivalent to 2.6% of employed workers paying into the system in the week ended Sept. 29. The rate has remained constant since mid-March.

The Labor Department report on jobless claims can be accessed at: ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report.

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Now entire states are being left out in order to make the numbers?