Washington, DC, December 1, 2005--First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell 17,000 to 320,000 in the week ended Nov. 26, according to a report from the Labor Department.
The decline was larger than forecast. Economists had expected claims to fall to 323,000.
The government will release the November nonfarm payroll report on Friday. Economists are expecting a strong report, with about 224,000 jobs created in the month. One of the factors behind their optimism has been the low level of jobless claims over the past month.
Claims in the previous week were revised to an increase of 32,000 to 337,000 compared with the initial estimate of a rise of 30,000 to 335,000.
The four-week average of initial claims fell 1,250 to 322,500.
A Labor Department official said 7,000 claims in the latest week were related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, bringing the total number of claims filed because of the two hurricanes to 562,000.
Hurricane Wilma had a smaller impact on the labor market, with only 2,600 claims filed in the latest week, bringing the total to 30,000.
