Jobless claims fell by 11,000 last week
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of workers applying for jobless benefits fell by 11,000 last week to a level in line with economists' expectations and suggesting job market deterioration has been modest, a government report on Wednesday showed.
First-time claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 330,000 in the week ended November 17, from an upwardly revised 341,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.
Economists had forecast a modest drop in new claims to 330,000 from the original reading of 339,000 for the prior week. They are watching the job market closely for any signs a deep housing slump and tight credit are beginning to exact a heavy toll.
"Companies appear to have realized that a hiring freeze will not be enough to maintain earnings growth in the current environment, so they are now starting to let people go," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York.
"We expect a sustained, though moderately-paced, rise in claims for the foreseeable future," Shepherdson said.
The four-week moving average of new claims, considered a more reliable indicator of the job market's health, inched down to 329,750 in the week ended November 17 from 330,500 the week before.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits climbed by 7,000 to 2.566 million in the week ended November 10, the latest period for which figures were available. Economists had forecast 2.57 million claims.
The 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike since November 5, bringing production to a halt on numerous programs. Hundreds of crew members and cast from various television shows have received layoff notices.
However, a Labor Department official said the statisticians had not received any strike-related claims.
These claims may be difficult to monitor because the California Employment Development Department does not have a system in place to track layoffs specific to the labor dispute.
"Such layoffs may occur across many industries that support TV production throughout the state," an official for the state office said.
(Reporting by Nancy Waitz, editing by Joanne Morrison)
