Weekly Jobless Claims Drop

The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits dipped below 400,000 last week, a move that indicates the job market is improving somewhat.
Thursday the Labor Department said the 397,000 initial claims were down 9,000 from the previous week. For several weeks the number has hovered near 400,000, while the average over the last month has been 404,500. At the height of the financial crisis, weekly claims were above 600,000.
These latest numbers come a day before the government releases the October unemployment report. Economists anticipate that about 100,000 jobs were created last month, slow growth that is unlikely to significantly improve the nation’s 9.1% unemployment rate.
Nevertheless, the jobless claim figures Thursday are another sign of modest progress recently in the economic recovery. The government reported last week that the economy grew at a 2.5% annual rate from July through September.
The improved economic growth — nearly double the pace in the second quarter — was cited by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday as an indication that the recovery has begun to strengthen. Still, with the European debt crisis looming over the global economy, the Fed downgraded its projections for growth through 2013.
The Fed said the unemployment rate would not drop below 9% this year and would remain high next year, within a range of 8.5% to 8.7%.