WASHINGTON -- Fewer people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that strong hiring should continue despite signs of slower economic growth at the start of 2015.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment aid fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 282,000. The decrease suggests that a recent slowdown in manufacturing, housing starts and retail sales has not trickled into the job market, a possible indication that economic growth will rebound after a harsh winter.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, tumbled 7,750 to 297,000. Over the past 12 months, the average has dipped roughly 7 percent.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The relatively low average shows that employers are holding on to workers and may increase hiring. Applications below 300,000 are generally consistent with solid monthly job gains.
"If we continue to see claims down here, you can expect to see more payroll gains," said Raymond Stone, managing director at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in Princeton, N. J. "The good, strong gains we've seen in payrolls will continue."
The economy has been struck by some setbacks during a frigid February. Factories cranked out fewer long-lasting goods, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Builders broke ground on fewer homes last month, while retail spending has fallen.
Those reports indicate that growth will be dramatically lower than its annual average of 2.2 percent during the final three months of last year, which was already a decrease from growth averaging more than 4 percent in the middle of 2014. The Labor Department's claims figures showed no states' estimated data last week, and there was nothing unusual in the report, an agency spokesman said as the results were released to the news media.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve forecasts that first-quarter growth will be at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent. Private firm Macroeconomic Advisers was more optimistic Tuesday, estimating growth of 1.4 percent.
Still, as layoffs have dipped, job growth has soared. In each of the past 12 months, employers have added at least 200,000 jobs. The gains totaled 295,000 in February.
The job growth has slashed the nation's unemployment rate to 5.5 percent from 6.7 percent a year ago.
Information for this article was contributed by Nina Glinski and Jordan Yadoo of Bloomberg News.
Business on 03/27/2015