Weekly Jobless Benefits Fall Less Than Economists Expected, 4-Week Rolling Average Up

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly jobless benefits fell 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 291,000 for the week ended Nov. 15, missing expectations.

The prior week’s data was revised to show 3,000 more applications received than previously reported. Further increasing concerns, the four-week moving average of claims, which is widely considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, still increased 1,750 to 287,500, still at levels consistent with solid employment growth.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims dipping to 285,000 last week. On the brighter side, claims have now been below the 300,000 threshold for 10 straight weeks, a sign that the labor market is tightening. However, because the number of eligible Americans is so low, the higher number is still a concern to the Federal Reserve and economists.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week’s claims data, which covered the period during which the government surveyed employers for November’s nonfarm payrolls.

Though the four-week average of claims increased 6,250 between the October and November survey period, suggesting another month of employment gains above 200,000, though the wages are stagnant and the vast majority of jobs created are low-paying and part-time.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid declined 73,000 to 2.33 million in the week ended Nov. 8, which is the lowest since December 2000.

The unemployment rate for people receiving jobless benefits was at 1.8 percent for a 10th straight week.