New claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to 409,000 last week. It is generally accepted that a sustainable rate of job growth requires new claims to fall below a weekly average of 375,000. The U.S. Labor Department notes that new claims have exceeded this number every week since last February.
While the claims trend appears to be declining, the read on the latest result suggests that layoffs have not yet increased despite growing concerns that the economy is moving towards another recession. What is clear however, is that new jobs are being created at a slower pace than earlier this year and this has kept the unemployment rate elevated at 9.1 percent.
Source: Associated Press
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