Jobless Claims Drops Significantly
A recent AP Economics article reported, “The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped by a bigger-than-expected amount last week, signaling continuing labor market strength despite a general economic slowdown.”
Apparently, the U.S. government reported that applications for jobless benefits totaled 310,000, down 9,000 from the previous week. “It was the biggest decline in seven weeks and was a larger improvement than analysts had been expecting,” stated the article.
“The total number of jobless claims was the lowest since 299,000 people showed up at unemployment offices the week of July 22,” stated the AP Economics article.
Despite the highest unemployment rate of 4.8 percent in July, the August numbers fell to 4.7 percent, reported the government to the AP, giving a small amount of hope to the economic status of the United States. “Economic growth slowed to an annual rate of just 2.9 percent in the spring as the nation has struggled with soaring energy prices, a cooling housing market and rising interest rates,” stated the AP Economics article.
“For the week ending Aug. 26, total claims rose by 1,000. There were three states with an increase in jobless claims of 1,000 or more. The biggest increase was New York with a gain of 4,488, reflecting increased layoffs in transportation and service industries. Kentucky had an increase of 1,847 in jobless claims, reflecting increased layoffs in manufacturing, followed by North Carolina with a rise of 1,195,” also stated the AP Economics article.
However, at the same time, “Three states had decreases of 1,000 or more. Ohio had the biggest drop, a decline of 1,845, followed by Virginia, which was down 1,801, and Michigan, where jobless claims fell by 1,381,” stated the AP Economics article.
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