Semapa paga 148 milhões pela Imedexa na primeira compra fora do país

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8:30am 08/19/04 U.S. WEEKLY INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS OFF 3,000 TO 331,000
8:30am 08/19/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG JOBLESS CLAIMS OFF 2,500 TO 337,000
8:30am 08/19/04 U.S. CONTINUING JOBLESS CLAIMS UP 16,000 TO 2.9M
8:30am 08/19/04 JOBLESS CLAIMS NOT IMPACTED BY CHARLEY - LABOR DEPT

ECONOMIC REPORT :U.S. weekly jobless claims slip to 331,000
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 9:04 AM ET Aug. 19, 2004

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 to 331,000 in the week ended Aug. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

It marked the lowest weekly number of initial claims filed since July 3.

The Labor Department's less-volatile four-week average also fell, slipping by 2,500 to 337,000 claims, the lowest in three weeks. Read the full release.

Economists had been expecting weekly claims to rise slightly to about 335,000. See Economic Calendar.

Florida state officials didn't indicate that the number of new filings was significantly affected by Hurricane Charley, which battered the state's southwestern Gulf Coast late Friday, a Labor Department official said.

Initial claims could bounce higher next week because some businesses are not yet back in operation.

Meanwhile, the number of workers who continued to receive state unemployment checks rose by 16,000 to 2.9 million in the week ended Aug. 7, a three-week high.

The insured unemployment rate -- the percentage of benefit claimants of those covered by unemployment insurance -- remained at 2.3 percent.

Initial claims in the range of 325,000 to 350,000 are consistent with steady monthly job gains of about 150,000 to 250,000, economists have said. The survey week for the monthly nonfarm payroll report was last week, with the government's August employment data due out Sept. 3.

There is no direct correlation between jobless claims and total payrolls, because initial claims measure only involuntary job losses and provide little information about hiring. Continuing claims figures can give clues about how many laid-off workers find employment.

Jobless claims have been relatively steady for months.

The four-week average of initial claims has plateaued at a range between 335,00 and 345,000 for the past five months, after plunging by about 60,000 in the last three months of 2003.

Continuing claims have been near 2.9 million for the past three months after dropping by 600,000 between September and March, when job growth accelerated.

But job growth has stalled in recent months. Nonfarm payroll gains have averaged 106,000 over the past three months, down from 253,000 a month from February through April.

Long-term unemployment has been particularly insidious during this business cycle. In July, 1.7 million, or 20 percent, of the 8.2 million workers classified as unemployed had been out of work longer than six months.

The average duration of unemployment also remained high, at 18.6 weeks.