AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — First-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped for the
third consecutive week, a sign the job market is slowly recovering.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment
insurance fell by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 444,000. That’s above
economists’ forecasts of 440,000, according to Thomson Reuters.
Layoffs have dropped back to pre-recession levels and employers have slowly
resumed hiring as the economy recovers from the worst recession since the 1930s.
That has brought claims down from a peak of 651,000 in March 2009. But many
economists are concerned that claims haven’t fallen faster this year. Instead,
they have fluctuated around 450,000.
That’s above the 425,000 level that many economists think claims need to drop
below to signal sustained job growth.
Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said the
report may indicate that while large firms are hiring, small companies are
still cutting jobs.