Initial jobless claims declined in the week ended Oct 31, falling by 20,000 to 512,000 according to figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The four-week moving average of initial claims showed a decrease to 523,750 compared with a previous reading of 526,750.
Continuing claims for jobless benefits fell to 5.75m during the week ended October 24, in line with forecasts, and the lowest level since March.
Still, the figures for those receiving extended payments under federal programs climbed. As Bloomberg reported:
The number of people who’ve used up their benefits and are now collecting extended payments climbed by 115,000 to 4.01 million in the week ended Oct. 17 from the prior week.
Overall the data, while mixed, were more positive than economists had forecast, and suggest that job losses in the US have begun to slow.
Separately, the Labor Department said worker productivity, which is a measure of employee output per hour, grew at an annual rate of 9.5 per cent in the biggest surge in six years.
Reuters offered this pithy take on the rise in productivity, which was coupled with declining labour costs:
U.S. non-farm productivity in the third quarter rose at its fastest pace in six years as companies squeezed more output from a smaller pool of labor and cut costs to deal with a slump in demand, government data showed on Thursday.
Related links:
Gains in productivity bring mixed blessing for workplaces - FT
Twittering workers ‘waste’ £1.4bn a year - FT
Analysts still confident even if US consumers aren’t - FT Alphaville
