
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 10, 1993                   TAG: 9309100133
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

JOBLESS-BENEFIT CLAIMS TUMBLE TO 4-YEAR LOW

The American labor market is showing new signs of improvement; the number of newly idled workers seeking jobless benefits fell to a four-year low.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of new applications for unemployment insurance dropped 10,000 last week to 316,000. It was the fifth decline in the past six weeks and pushed initial claims to the lowest level since they totaled 314,000 in the week ended June 3, 1989.

"Despite other evidences of weakness . . . we do have a gradually improving economy and a gradually improving employment situation," said economist Robert G. Dederick of the Northern Trust Co. in Chicago.

The report "shows that it is getting easier to find a job," said Bruce Steinberg, an economist with Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. "The labor market is improving and the economy is probably stronger than most people believe right now."

The four-week moving average of claims, which analysts prefer because it smooths out weekly volatility and more accurately reflects the labor market, also hit a four-year low. It was 324,250, down 3,750 from the previous week and the lowest since 322,500 in the period ended Sept. 23, 1989. - Associated Press

by CNB