New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits plunged unexpectedly last week to the lowest level since February 2008, at the outset of the Great Recession, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
In a fresh sign of improvement in the jobs market, new jobless claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, came in at 339,000 in the week to October 6, far below the previous week’s 369,000 and the then-four-week average of 375,500.
The moving average was pulled down to 364,000 by the new data. The last time weekly claims were that low was in mid-February 2008, as the country plunged into a 19-month recession that sent the unemployment rate soaring to 10.0 per cent.
At the height of the downturn in early 2009, more than 600,000 fresh claims a week were being reported as businesses and government offices slashed their rolls.
While job creation has been somewhat weak in recent months, in August the official jobless rate fell to 7.8 per cent.
That was good news for President Barack Obama as he battles to win re-election with the electorate focused on his performance leading the economy out of recession.
Washington, Oct 11, 2012 (AFP)
