Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300103
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Labor Department said Thursday new applications for unemployment insurance totaled 322,000 during the week ended Dec. 24, down from a revised 325,000 a week earlier. The figure for the week ended Dec. 17 had been estimated at 326,000.
Virginia logged the largest number of new claims for the week ended Dec. 17 with 3,374. Other states with large increases were California, 1,736; Arkansas, 879; Connecticut, 862; and Illinois, 816.Many analysts had expected claims to drop slightly last week. Claims have remained in the low-300,000s in recent months, a range that many economists said reflects strength in the labor market.
For instance, initial claims totaled 408,000 at one point last January, when the unemployment rate was 6.7 percent. The jobless rate had fallen to 5.6 percent in November.
The more closely watched four-week moving average of claims totaled 323,500, up from 322,000 in the period ended Dec. 17. Analysts prefer to track the less-volatile four-week average because it smooths out the spikes in the weekly reports.
Another report measuring labor demand slipped in November but remained far stronger than a year earlier. The Conference Board, a New York business research organization, said Thursday its monthly Help-Wanted Advertising Index stood at 134 points in November, down from 137 in October but up from 114 in November 1993.
The index measures the volume of job advertising in 51 U.S. newspapers.
Despite November's dip, "the labor market recovery continues," said Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein. "The momentum in the labor market at the close of 1994 is a clear and unambiguous sign of more labor market improvement in 1995."
by CNB