Enviado: 18/11/2004 14:31U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fell by 3,000 Last Week to 334,000
Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 3,000 last week to 334,000, a number that may suggest a strengthening labor market.
First-time applications totaled 337,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said in Washington. The median forecast in a survey of 41 economists called for claims to drop to 330,000 from an initially reported 333,000.
Weekly claims have averaged 344,109 so far this year, compared with 402,000 for all of 2003, a sign businesses are holding on to workers as demand improves.