Job Market Slumbers On; Unemployment Claims Skyrocket

April 17, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The already bleak US job picture took another turn for the worse last week as first time jobless claims skyrocketed by 30,000 from a revised 412,000.

The US Department of Labor (DoL) said the increase for the week ending April 12 to 442,000 was the ninth straight week the unemployment report stubbornly clung to a mark above the key 400,000 level. Economists view that benchmark as a sign of a slumbering job-creation machine.

Much of the latest increase came from auto industry layoffs, according to a DoL official quoted by Reuters.

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The April 12 jobless claims hike came in well above economists’ prediction of 411,000 in Reuters’ regular poll.

Adding to the mounting evidence of an eroded labor market, the four-week moving average — considered a more reliable measure because it irons out weekly fluctuations — moved up to its highest level in nearly a year.   The average was 424,750, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised 421,250.

The DoL’s April 5 jobless report reflected a 38,000 decline (See   Jobless Claims Drop; Above 400,000 for Eight Weeks ).

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