Washington, DC, November 17, 2005--First-time filings for unemployment benefits dropped in the week ending Nov. 12 by 25,000 to 303,000, reaching their lowest level since April, according to the Labor Department.
The drop was sharper than expected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to inch lower to 322,000.
The new claims included an estimated 10,000 related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and 9,000 related to Hurricane Wilma, a department spokesman said.
A total of 545,000 claims related to Katrina and Rita have been filed, while 16,400 have been filed due to Wilma.
The hurricane-related figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Claims in the previous week were revised to an increase of 3,000 to 328,000 compared with the initial estimate of a rise of 2,000 to 326,000.
The four-week average of initial claims fell 13,500 to 321,500. This is the lowest 4-week moving average since the week ended Sept. 3.
