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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995                   TAG: 9503100041
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STATE JOBLESS DATA IN DEBT TO WEATHER

Newly laid-off Virginia residents filed 38,706 requests for unemployment checks in January, the fewest new claims for that month in six years, the Virginia Employment Commission reported.

The job picture is brighter because unseasonably mild weather enabled construction crews to stay busier, the state's economy is healthier and manufacturing employees returned to work more quickly after holiday furloughs, labor officials said.

Nationwide, the number of initial claims for jobless benefits increased by 4,000 last week after falling for two straight weeks.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 336,000, up from a revised 332,000 a week earlier.

It was the largest number of new claims since 344,000 were filed during the week ended Feb. 18.

After rising to 348,000 during the week ended Feb. 11, claims fell by 4,000 the following week and by 12,000 during the week ended Feb. 25.

Analysts suggested the big decline during the week ended Feb. 25 was due in part to a shorter filing period because of the President's Day holiday, when many unemployment offices were closed.

The more closely watched four-week moving average of weekly jobless claims also moved up last week, reaching its highest level since last summer.

The average was 340,000, up 4,250 from 335,750 during the period ended Feb. 25 and the highest since 347,750 during the period ended July 30, 1994.

Analysts prefer to track the four-week average because it smooths out the spikes in the more volatile weekly reports.

Many analysts expect the jobless rate in the government's February employment report, being released today, to fall back to 5.6 percent. It was 5.7 percent in January. The consensus forecast is for a rebound in nonfarm job growth to 225,000 in February, from 134,000 a month earlier.

``The initial unemployment claims data continue to indicate a slowdown in the labor market,'' contended Marilyn Schaja, an economist with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in New York.

Not so, said economist Samuel D. Kahan of Fuji Securities Inc. in Chicago. Claims tend to jump up in February because of difficulties in making seasonal adjustments in the data, he maintained.

by CNB