Weekly Jobless Claims Decline (Dropped by 27,000 to 365,000 in the week ended April 28)

Wall Street Journal ^ | 05/03/2012 | By JEFFREY SPARSHOTT And ERIC MORATH

[SeekAndFind]

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in a month last week, a hopeful sign for a labor market that has shown signs of weakening.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000 in the week ended April 28, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected 378,000 new claims.

The drop was the biggest since May 2011 and follows three weeks of disappointingly high readings.

The prior week's claims were revised to 392,000—the highest since late November—from the initially reported 388,000.

The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, increased by 750 to 383,500.

After a strong start to the year, the U.S. economy has been flashing mixed signals. Interpreting the data has been complicated by an unseasonably warm winter.

In March, U.S. employers added 120,000 nonfarm jobs, half of what they added in February. The Labor Department releases April's payroll numbers Friday—analysts forecast the addition of 168,000 jobs and a steady unemployment rate at 8.2%.

[XenaLee]

Uh....I’m sorry...but....if we’re in a “”recovery””....

then why are companies still laying off...and why are unemployment applications still well over 300,000 every month?

Unexpected my @ss!

And where are the Republicans pointing out this rather obvious point, btw? Not even Missing In Action....more like Missing in Inaction, as usual.

[dearolddad]

And by next week, this 365K figure will be quietly revised up to 385K.

Aren't the morons that publish these bogus numbers intelligent enough to wait until they have the actual numbers?