Investing November 15, 2001

Jobless Claims Fall for Third Consecutive Week

November 15, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - For the third consecutive week, the number of Americans filing for first time unemployment benefits fell, but the number of those remaining on the unemployment rolls reached an 18-year high, according to data just released by the US Department of Labor.
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The more stable four-week moving average of new claims, which smoothes out weekly volatility, fell to 474,750, the lowest since early October.

The number of initial claims fell by 8,000 to 444,000 in the week ending November 10, from a revised 452,000 the previous week. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the figure to rise to 466,000.

Nonetheless, the unemployment picture remains gloomy, with workers remaining unemployed for longer. The number of workers claiming an additional week of benefits rose for the eighth consecutive week to 3.83 million in the week ended November 3, the latest week for which data are available – and the highest since February 1983, when the figure reached 3,865,000.

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