EUA e Irão chegam a acordo sobre cessar-fogo após troca intensa de ameaças

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8:30 AM ET, Jun 07, 2007 - 2 minutes ago
U.S. continuing jobless claims up 72,000 to 2.54 mln
U.S. 4-week avg. jobless claims up 2,750 to 307,250
U.S. weekly jobless claims at lowest level since May 12
U.S. weekly jobless claims down 1,000 to 309,000

ECONOMIC REPORT: U.S. initial claims inch lower by 1,000 to 309,000
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Jun 7, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - First-time filings for state unemployment benefits fell 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 309,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. This is the lowest level since the week ended May 12.
Wall Street economists had been expecting claims to tick higher to about 312,000. Claims in the previous week fell 4,000 to 310,000.
Claims have declined after peaking at 343,000 new claims in early April, reflecting improvement in labor market conditions.
Some economists had expected claims to rebound in recent weeks. They discounted much of the recent improvement in claims, arguing that it was caused by seasonal adjustment difficulties stemming from a strike in Puerto Rico last year, but this explanation has lost some power as claims have remained relatively low for several weeks.
The four-week average of new claims rose by 2,750 to 307,250 in the week ended June 2.
Economists say the four-week average provides a more accurate snapshot of the labor market since it smoothes out one-time events that can distort the weekly figures.
In the latest week, there were no special factors that influenced the claims data, a Labor Department spokesman said.
The number of people receiving unemployment checks rose 72,000 to 2.54 million in the week ended May 26.
The four-week average of continuing claims sank 4,000 to 2.50 million. This is the lowest level since the week ended Jan 27.
The insured unemployment rate, making up the proportion of all covered workers who are receiving benefits, held steady at 1.9%.
The May U.S. employment figures were released last Friday and showed a gain of 157,000 jobs. Economists said the data were further evidence that the economy is bouncing back in the second quarter after slowing to a crawl in the first quarter.