Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell more than forecast last week, easing concern the labor market was rapidly deteriorating as the economy slows. Initial jobless claims dropped by 31,000, the first decline in a month, to 473,000 in the week ended Aug. 21, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance decreased, while those getting extended benefits climbed.
The weekly average over the past month climbed to the highest level since November even as the latest reading provided some relief to the drumbeat of negative economic data in recent weeks. Employers have delayed hiring plans and some have renewed firings as the year-old recovery shows signs of petering out, raising the risk consumer spending will weaken further.
“The U.S. has taken a big pause, not just in terms of jobs growth but in terms of the broader economy,” Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report.
The median estimate of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected claims would drop to 490,000. Forecasts ranged from 475,000 to 510,000. The government revised the prior week’s claims figure up to 504,000 from a previously reported 500,000.
There were no special factors influencing last week’s data, a Labor Department spokesman told reporters as the figures were being released.
The four-week moving average of claims increased to 486,750 from 483,500 the prior week.
Extended Benefits
The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits dropped by 62,000 to 4.46 million in the week ended Aug. 14, from 4.52 million the prior week.
The continuing claims figure does not include those receiving extended benefits under federal programs. The number of Americans who’ve used up traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments rose by about 302,000 to 5.84 million in the week ended Aug. 7.
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, fell to 3.5 percent in the week ended Aug. 14 from 3.6 percent.
Eleven states and territories reported an increase in claims that same week, while 42 reported a decrease.
While companies have boosted payrolls seven straight months, firings have remained elevated as the economic recovery shows signs of slowing. Private firms added 71,000 jobs in July, fewer than economists had forecast, according to government figures released Aug. 6. Unemployment held at 9.5 percent, near a 26-year high of 10.1 percent.
Less Growth
The government may report tomorrow the economy grew at a 1.4 percent pace in the second quarter, less than the 2.4 percent rate earlier estimated, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be the slowest growth since the second quarter of 2009 when the economy was still contracting.
A year after the expansion resumed, companies are still cutting staff.
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp. this week said it would fire 292 employees at the Gulf Coast shipbuilding facility at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and that it expects to cut another 350 jobs at Pascagoula by the end of the year.
Congress this month passed legislation providing $26 billion in aid to state governments to prevent thousands of layoffs of teachers and other public service employees as declining tax revenue has left state and local governments with budget deficits the National Conference of State Legislatures estimates at $84 billion.
In a sign local governments and employees are cooperating to save jobs, the Los Angeles-based Engineers & Architects Association, which represents one-seventh of the city’s municipal workforce, agreed to terms that call for members to help pay their health insurance costs for the first time, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said this week.
