New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits, a sign of the pace of layoffs in the economy, fell last week, the Labour Department reported Thursday. In the week ending September 5, initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 275,000, matching analyst expectations. The prior week's level was revised down by 1,0000 to 281,000. Jobless claims have remained below 300,000 since March as the labour market modestly improves. The four-week moving average edged up by 500 to 275,750 last week. A year ago, the average was 303,500.
"Claims have reverted to trend after last week's increase, which likely reflected seasonal adjustment difficulties at the start of the school year," said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics in a client note. Shepherdson said the claims trend was "consistent with sustained strong payroll growth." The August jobs report released Friday showed job growth slowed, to 173,000 new jobs, but the unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent in July. Monthly job creation has averaged 221,000 over the past three months.
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