Initial claims for US jobless insurance benefits fell for a second straight week, official data showed Thursday, suggesting modest improvement in the troubled labor market.
The seasonally adjusted number of new unemployment claims in the week ending November 7 fell to 502,000, a drop of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 514,000, the Labor Department said.
The fresh data was better than the figure expected by most analysts of around 510,000.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to 519,750, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 524,250.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also fell.
The Labor Department’s figures showed the number of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 31 was 5.631 million, a decrease of 139,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5.77 million.
The weekly report offers an up-to-date snapshot of the job market, critical to sustained US economic growth after recession since December 2007.
The latest initial claims reading supported a trend of slowing job losses since a March peak and was the lowest since January.
The US unemployment rate shot up to 10.2 percent in October as another 190,000 jobs were shed, the Labor Department said last week.
The jobless rate, up from 9.8 percent in September, was the highest since 1983 but the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in over a year.
