13:30 - Dados States
Enviado: 23/9/2004 13:328:29am 09/23/04 U.S. WEEKLY INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS UP 14,000 TO 350,000
8:30am 09/23/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG. INITIAL CLAIMS UP 2,000 TO 341,000
8:30am 09/23/04 U.S. CONTINUING JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE 5,000 TO 2.88MLN
8:30am 09/23/04 RISE IN U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS 'MOSTLY' DUE TO HURRICANE
ECONOMIC REPORT: U.S. initial jobless claims rise 14,000; Increase 'mostly' due to Hurricane Ivan, Labor Dept. says
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Sept. 23, 2004
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 14,000 to 350,000 last week, largely because of a powerful hurricane that walloped the Gulf Coast, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Economists were expecting an increase to about 340,000, according to a survey conducted by CBS MarketWatch.
A Labor Department spokesman said the increase in first-time claims in the week ending Sept. 18 was "mostly" due to the effects of Hurricane Ivan, which forced the closure of thousands of businesses from Florida to Texas.
The claims data have been rendered almost useless as a guide to the state of the labor market by a series of storms and seasonal shifts in the past month, economists have suggested.
The more-reliable four-week moving average of first-time claims edged higher to 341,000 from 339,000 in the latest week. The four-week average smoothes out week-by-week distortions caused by weather and other special events.
Meanwhile, the number of former workers receiving unemployment benefit checks increased by 5,000 to 2.883 million in the week ending Sept. 11. The four-week moving average drifted down to 2.8815 million.
The initial claims data cover the same week that the government canvasses 400,000 businesses and 60,000 households for the monthly employment data.
Initial claims were 17,000 higher in the September survey week than in the August.
The Labor Department will report on the September employment report on Oct. 8.
Economists have said initial claims in the neighborhood of 340,000 are consistent with monthly job gains of about 150,000 to 250,000. The economy needs to add about 150,000 jobs a month to absorb new entrants into the labor force.
Jobless claims have been relatively steady for months.
The four-week average of initial claims has settled in a range between 335,00 and 345,000 for the past six 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 2003 and March, when job growth accelerated.
But job growth has stalled in recent months. Nonfarm payroll gains have averaged 104,000 over the past three months, compared with 295,000 a month from March through May.
Long-term unemployment has been particularly insidious during this business cycle. In August, 1.7 million, or 20.7 percent, of the 8 million workers classified as unemployed had been out of work longer than six months. The average duration of unemployment remained high at 19 weeks.
8:30am 09/23/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG. INITIAL CLAIMS UP 2,000 TO 341,000
8:30am 09/23/04 U.S. CONTINUING JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE 5,000 TO 2.88MLN
8:30am 09/23/04 RISE IN U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS 'MOSTLY' DUE TO HURRICANE
ECONOMIC REPORT: U.S. initial jobless claims rise 14,000; Increase 'mostly' due to Hurricane Ivan, Labor Dept. says
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Sept. 23, 2004
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 14,000 to 350,000 last week, largely because of a powerful hurricane that walloped the Gulf Coast, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Economists were expecting an increase to about 340,000, according to a survey conducted by CBS MarketWatch.
A Labor Department spokesman said the increase in first-time claims in the week ending Sept. 18 was "mostly" due to the effects of Hurricane Ivan, which forced the closure of thousands of businesses from Florida to Texas.
The claims data have been rendered almost useless as a guide to the state of the labor market by a series of storms and seasonal shifts in the past month, economists have suggested.
The more-reliable four-week moving average of first-time claims edged higher to 341,000 from 339,000 in the latest week. The four-week average smoothes out week-by-week distortions caused by weather and other special events.
Meanwhile, the number of former workers receiving unemployment benefit checks increased by 5,000 to 2.883 million in the week ending Sept. 11. The four-week moving average drifted down to 2.8815 million.
The initial claims data cover the same week that the government canvasses 400,000 businesses and 60,000 households for the monthly employment data.
Initial claims were 17,000 higher in the September survey week than in the August.
The Labor Department will report on the September employment report on Oct. 8.
Economists have said initial claims in the neighborhood of 340,000 are consistent with monthly job gains of about 150,000 to 250,000. The economy needs to add about 150,000 jobs a month to absorb new entrants into the labor force.
Jobless claims have been relatively steady for months.
The four-week average of initial claims has settled in a range between 335,00 and 345,000 for the past six 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 2003 and March, when job growth accelerated.
But job growth has stalled in recent months. Nonfarm payroll gains have averaged 104,000 over the past three months, compared with 295,000 a month from March through May.
Long-term unemployment has been particularly insidious during this business cycle. In August, 1.7 million, or 20.7 percent, of the 8 million workers classified as unemployed had been out of work longer than six months. The average duration of unemployment remained high at 19 weeks.