Unemployment claims drop below 400,000

@CNNMoney July 28, 2011: 9:34 AM ET
chart-initial-claims.top.gif

Initial unemployment claims dipped to 398,000 last week -- their first time below the 400,000 level since April 2.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Finally, some better news about the job market: the number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits fell below 400,000 for the first time since early April.

There were 398,000 initial unemployment claims filed in the week ended July 23, the Labor Department said Thursday.

That marks the first time since April 2, that the weekly initial claims number has fallen below 400,000, a level typically associated with payroll growth and a lower unemployment rate.

It also beats the 415,000 claims economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected, and was 24,000 lower than the previous week.

Earlier this year, it appeared initial claims were on a downward track. But they then hit a speedbump in April, as high oil prices, bad weather and Japan's tsunami started to weigh on businesses.

Are my job skills useless?

Now, although last week's data were slightly encouraging, economists are still hesistant to say initial claims are completely back on track, because the data can be volatile.

"It's way too early to tell," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets. "There's still so much uncertainty out there and economic growth is still very subpar. If it does continue to improve, it would be very moderate."

Earlier in the month, Minnesota's shutdown caused an upward blip in the numbers, but that proved only temporary after the state government passed a budget on July 20.

Overall, the four-week moving average of initial claims --calculated to smooth out volatility -- fell by 8,500 to 413,750 in the latest week.

Continuing claims -- which include people filing for the second week of benefits or more -- fell to 3,703,000 in the week ended July 16, the most recent data available. That was slightly more than economists' forecasts for 3,688,000.

The current unemployment rate is 9.2%. To top of page

Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Economic Calendar
Latest ReportNext Update
Home pricesAug 28
Consumer confidenceAug 28
GDPAug 29
Manufacturing (ISM)Sept 4
JobsSept 7
Inflation (CPI)Sept 14
Retail sales Sept 14
  • -->

    Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.