Washington, DC, Apr. 8--The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in more than three years, a promising sign that companies feel better about the economy's prospects and are less inclined to get rid of workers.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for jobless claims declined by a seasonally adjusted 14,000 to 328,000 for the week ending April 3. That marked the lowest level since Jan. 13, 2001--the week before President George W. Bush's inauguration.
On the layoffs front, the jobless claims figures were better than economists were expecting. They had called for a slight decline from the previous week to around 340,000.
The more stable four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, also went down last week by 3,250 to 336,750. That represented the lowest level since Nov. 25, 2000.
The latest snapshot of layoffs raised hopes that recent improvements seen in the labor market might be sustained. A complete turnaround in the jobs market is the one missing piece of the economic recovery puzzle, analysts say.
