Initial jobless claims dip
The number of people filling for unemployment benefits for the first time dipped to 654,000, but continuing claims hits a record high.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, while those filing for continuing claims hit an all-time high for the 11th straight week, according to a government report released Thursday.
In the week ended April 4, a total of 654,000 people filed initial jobless claims, lower than the previous week's upwardly revised 674,000, the Labor Department reported.
The upwardly revised total for the week ended March 28 was the highest for weekly claims since October 1982.
The 4-week moving average of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits - which smoothes out weekly volatility - was 657,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 658,000.
A consensus estimate of economists polled by Briefing.com expected 660,000 first-time filers last week.
One economist was hopeful that the drop was a sign that the jobless claims have peaked.
"We have good reason to look at this drop off from this high level - tentatively - that we may have seen the peak," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics.
The number of people continuing to file for jobless benefits rose to 5.84 million in the week ended March 28, the latest week for which the data was available. The number of people filing continuing claims marked an increase of 95,000 from the previous week's revised level of 5.75 million.
The reading on continuing claims was the highest number since the government began keeping records in 1967, and the 11th consecutive week that continuing claims rose to a record high.
The 4-week moving average of continuing claims was 5.65 million, an increase of 146,750 from the previous week's revised average of 5.5 million.
The recession forced business owners to chop away at their headcount in order to bring down overhead spending.
Last Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers cut 663,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate rose to 8.5% from 8.1% in February. The unemployment rate was the highest since November 1983.
Brusca is optimistic that the recovery in the economy should be as quick as the deterioration was. He said the economy should begin to recovery 8 weeks beyond the peak in claims.
"When you have a sharp and deep recession, sharp job losses, then the trough of the recession tends to be the trough for jobs, and the peak in the unemployment rate tends to come very close to that trough," said Brusca. 
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