Tag Archives: Labor Department

First time claims for unemployment insurance rose 8,000 in the week ended March 2, the Labor Department reported today, the third straight weekly increase after revisions to earlier data. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, increase 10,000 to 3,416,000, the second straight weekly increase.

First time claims for unemployment insurance edged down by 2,000 for the week ended February 25, the Department of Labor reported today. Data for the previous week were revised upward, turning a flat report into an increase in initial claims. The revision means claims rose and did not decline during the week used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its month survey for the unemployment rate.

First time claims for unemployment insurance were unchanged at 351,000 for the week ended February 18, as the four-year record low number filings one week earlier were revised upward, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, fell 52,000 - the fourth drop in the six weeks this year - and the first time continuing claims have been below 3,400,000 since August 2008. The initial claims report covered the “reference week” used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in developing the monthly employment situation report release and the unemployment rate.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 13,000 for the week ended February 11 to 348,000, hitting their lowest level since March 2008, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, fell as well, dropping 100,000 to 3,426,000. That's the lowest reading for continuing claims since August 2008. While the absolute numbers themselves are encouraging, the trend in the filings is more significant.

Overall, the addition of 683,000 new jobs and the best credit picture in more than 15 years helped improve the financial health for the average U.S. household, but these gains were offset somewhat by a decline in net worth and tight household budgets, according to the Q4 2011 report from CredAbility. A score below 70 indicates financial distress, with U.S. households scoring 67.6 on the 100-point scale for this quarter, a smidge higher than the previous quarter, which was at 66.7.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell by 15,000 for the week ended February 4 to 358,000, remaining below 400,000 for the fourth straight week. The prior week's claims data were revised upward by 6,000, making this week's drop steeper than expected. Continuing claims for unemployment insurance increased 64,000 to 3,515,000 for the week ended January 28, giving back most of the previous week's decline. This week's report continues the generally declining trend in claims filings since last September and indicates the pace of layoffs has slowed.

In a report released Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that could be described only as the Republicans' worst nightmare, the economy added 243,000 jobs in January the strongest month-to-month gain since last March as the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent. The unemployment rate, the number of people employed, and the number unemployed were at their best levels since President Obama took office in January 2009. Economists had anticipated about 155,000 new jobs in January.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell 12,000 for the week ended January 28 to 367,000, reversing half of the increase of the previous week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Continuing claims for unemployment insurance fell 130,000 to 3,437,000 for the week ended January 21, the lowest level since August 2008. The total number of individuals receiving benefits was essentially unchanged at 7,670,452. This compares, though, with nearly 13.1 million people classified as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in December.

The number of housing markets showing measurable improvement nearly doubled in January, with the addition of 40 new metros to the Improving Markets Index put out by First American and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The index tracks housing markets that are showing signs of improving economic health based on three independent datasets - employment growth from the Labor Department, home price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permits from the Census Bureau.

The nation's unemployment rate continues to trend down. It slipped to 8.5 percent during the month of December as the economy added 200,000 new jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday morning. December marks the sixth consecutive month of 100,000-plus job gains and the first such stretch employers have been able to string together since 2006. Over the 2011 calendar year, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.6 million. Employment in the private sector rose by 1.9 million over the past 12 months, while government employment fell by 280,000.