The number of Americans filing new jobless claims dropped to a near five-year low, the Labor Department said Thursday.
In the week ending December 22, 350,000 people filed initials claims, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 362,000.
Applications for unemployment benefits measure the pace of layoffs. Economists suggest that when they fall consistently below 375,000, it implies that hiring is strong enough to lower the jobless rate.
According to news reports, the better than projected new jobless claims of 350,000, includes estimates for 19 states, rather than the normal one or two states. This is because many state unemployment offices were closed Monday and Tuesday and could not provide the necessary data. Many analysts are anticipating wide variability in last week’s revised unemployment claims.
Throughout 2011, weekly new jobless claims have mostly fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000.
