Jobless Claims Fall To 320,000 Per Week

Amid Positive Signs, Reasons For Doubt, Despair, And Investing All of Your Money In Raw Diamonds, Guard-Dogs, And Shotguns

The unemployment figures will be released tomorrow, but this is a good omen:

JOB MARKET STRENGTHENING

A separate report by the Labor Department showed the number of U.S. workers making new jobless claims fell last week to below pre-hurricane levels. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 17,000 to 320,000, largely in line with Wall Street forecasts.

Before the successive storms smashed the U.S. Gulf Coast region -- with Hurricane Katrina in August and Rita in September -- jobless claims figures had shown the U.S. labor market stabilizing at healthy levels.

A more comprehensive look at employment will come on Friday, when the government releases its November payrolls report. Economists polled by Reuters expect the report to show the U.S. economy created about 210,000 jobs in the month, with the unemployment rate steady at 5 percent.

posted by Ace at 10:13 AM

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