Applications for US jobless aid rise to still-low 282,000

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but applications remain at historically near low levels in a positive sign for the U.S. economy amid a broader global slowdown.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 282,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased 3,250 to 275,500. That average has fallen 9.2 percent over the past 12 months.

The report points to the resilience of the U.S. economy as international pressures are dampening growth. Employers have largely kept their staffs intact, as applications for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, have remained near 15-year lows for the past several months.

Coupled with steady job growth, the modest number of applications suggests that the economy will continue an expansion that just entered its seventh year, potentially enabling the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, file photo, a sign attracts job-seekers during a job fair at the Marriott Hotel in Colonie, N.Y. The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits during the week ending Aug. 29, 2015 on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ef9ba83a0dba4547844d7cce5934993a/applications-us-jobless-aid-rise-still-low-282000

[PatrynXX]

1. doesn't mean much. a rise could easily mean the actual unemployment

is starting to look for work again like me soon. several things in June did it and May. Nonestop throwing away has been happening. the dreaded go thru VHS tapes though yuck.. some things I wanna keep some things I don't..

[whatthehey]

2. You're right, but for incorrect reasons

It doesn't mean much, because it's just normal variations well below historical average. People looking for work is not the reason though. This is a measure of initial claims, people just starting to claim benefits. There is no connection whatsoever beetween this metric and the Household Survey, which asks among other things whether people are looking for work or not. This is a proxy for layoffs and its prime use is to measure the speed at which employers are shedding jobs (it's worth noting that this is a one-sided measure and in no way means the economy lost hundreds of thousands of jobs laast week, as it makes no attempt to tally how many hirings there were, only how many separations which caused benefit claims).