Fewer people apply for unemployment benefits

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the third drop in the past four weeks and a sign that the job market is slowly improving.

Weekly claims for jobless aid dipped by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000 in the week ending Dec. 11, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure, fell for the sixth straight week to 422,750. That's the lowest level since August 2008, just before the financial crisis intensified with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Weekly first-time applications below 425,000 tend to signal modest job growth. But economists say applications would need to dip consistently to 375,000 or below to indicate a significant decline in unemployment. Applications for unemployment benefits peaked during the recession at 651,000 in March 2009.

Claims have been steadily declining in the past two months, raising hopes among economists that layoffs are falling and employers are hiring more workers."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101216/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[mbperrin]

2. From lower in the OP:

Earlier this month, the government issued a disappointing report that showed employers added only 39,000 net new jobs in November and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent.

The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits rose by 22,000 to 4.14 million, the department said. But that doesn't include another 4.8 million people receiving extended benefits under an emergency program paid for by the federal government.

[madrchsod]

3. we are losing another 500 jobs in the next few months

there are three companies hiring part time warehouse jobs for the coming spring. several factories are hiring temps to replace retired employees or increase of orders. very few full time employees are being hired. we do have a railcar manufacturer that will be hiring 500 skill/semi skilled workers this year.
there are around 4000 people in this area that are unemployed or given up and working the underground economy.

"in my hometown....."