Semana decisiva para acordo de tarifas. EUA esperam dias “atarefados”

[Info.]

8:31am 01/22/04 U.S. CONTINUING CLAIMS FALL TO 3.21M, LOWEST SINCE 9/01
8:31am 01/22/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG. INITIAL CLAIMS LOWEST SINCE 1/01
8:31am 01/22/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG. INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL TO 344,500
8:31am 01/22/04 U.S. WEEKLY INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS -1,000 TO 341,000

U.S. jobless claims at 3-year low

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - The U.S. labor market improved modestly again in the most recent weekly data reported by the Labor Department.
The seasonally adjusted weekly average for initial jobless claims sank by 3,250 in the four weeks ending Jan. 17 to a three-year low of 344,500.
It's the lowest level of initial claims for state unemployment benefits since the first week of President Bush's administration.
The more-volatile weekly initial claims figures fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000 in the week ending Jan. 17.
Meanwhile, the four-week average for continuing claims fell by 22,750 to 3.21 million, the lowest since the week before the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
The figures do not include some 788,000 workers who were receiving extended federal benefits that are available once workers exhaust their state benefits, typically after 26 weeks. The federal program is not accepting new applications.
The improvement in continuing claims represents increased hiring as well as a number of workers who cannot find work before their benefits expire.
Long-term unemployment has been particularly harsh in this recovery. In December, 1.9 million of the 8.4 million Americans officially classified as unemployed had been out of work longer than six months.
The average length of unemployment was 19.6 weeks, close to a 20-year high.