WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Reuters) — First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 15,000 last week, but a four-week moving average of new filings was the highest in more than two years, the government said Thursday in a report showing a deteriorating labor market.þþNew applications for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 338,000 in the week ended Dec. 1, from a slight upwardly revised 353,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said.þþThe level was slightly lower than the 340,000 economists had forecast for the week after Thanksgiving, but still in a range that pointed to a weakening labor market.þþ“The bottom is not falling out of the job market, but we should see some cyclical weakness and a sideways to downward movement in nonfarm payrolls over the next several months,” said the chief United States economist at IDEAglobal, Joseph Brusuelas.þþThe four-week moving average of new claims, considered a more reliable indicator of the job market’s health, rose to 340,250, the highest since Oct. 29, 2005, when the average stood at 342,250.þþ“We doubt claims are set to explode as they did in 2001, but they are already high enough to suggest that payroll growth will slow over the next few months,” said the chief United States economist at High Frequency Economics, Ian C. Shepherdson.þþ
Source: NY Times
