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Washington: The number
of people in the US applying for unemployment aid rose slightly
last week after falling below the threshold of 400,000 a week
earlier, Xinhua reported Thursday.
The Labor Department said that the advance figure for seasonally
adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 401,000 in the
week ending Oct 1, marking an increase of 6,000 from the previous
week's revised figure.
Having fewer than 425,000 people applying for aid is consistent
with modest job growth, but the number of jobless claims will have
to fall to 375,000 or below to signal a sustained drop in the
unemployment rate, the department added.
However, the four-week moving average of jobless claims continued
to decline during the Sep 25-Oct 1 week, down 4,000 from the
previous week.
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment
during the week ending Sep 24 was 3.7 million, a decrease of
52,000 from the week earlier.
Economists said last week's figure was a fresh sign that the job
market recovery remained fragile and volatile.
In addition, the US private sector added only 91,000 jobs in
September, reflecting the recent deceleration of economic
activity, according to an employment report released Wednesday by
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
The weekly figures of jobless benefits application reflect the
level of layoffs and indicate the real-time condition of the US
job market.
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