The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance rose by 7,000 last week after reaching the lowest level in more than a month, a government report showed.
The increase in initial jobless claims to 325,000 was from a
revised 318,000 filed the week before, the Labor Department said
Thursday in Washington. The prior week’s figure was the lowest since
the week that ended Dec. 11.
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The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile
measure, rose to 341,750 from 340,750. Consumers surveyed by the
Conference Board this month showed more confidence in the labor
market as companies hold onto employees amid rising orders.
“The overall picture, when you look at confidence surveys
and other reports, is that the labor market is doing better,”
said MFR Inc. Chief Economist Joshua Shapiro in New York.
The volume of help-wanted advertising in major U.S.
newspapers rose in December to its highest level in six months,
the Conference Board said in a separate report Thursday. The group’s
index advanced to 38 from 36 in November.
“The economy to me appears to be very solid,” Brian
Wesbury, chief economist at Griffin Kubik Stephens & Thompson in
Chicago, said. “The job market remains robust.”
Economists forecast claims to rise to 332,000 last week, the
median of 41 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Forecasts
ranged from 315,000 to 340,000. This was the first time since the
beginning of December that Labor Department officials didn’t
mention difficulties in adjusting claims for seasonal variations
around the year-end holidays.
The number of people continuing to collect state jobless
benefits rose to 2.84 million in the week ended Jan. 15 from 2.7
million a week earlier.
The insured employment rate, which tends to track the U.S.
jobless rate, rose to 2.2 percent from 2.1 percent. Three states
and territories had an increase in claims, while 49 had a decrease
and one was unchanged. Continuing claims, the insured employment
rate and state data are reported with a one-week lag.
Commerce Bancorp Inc., owner of New Jersey-based Commerce
Bank, said Thursday it will open at least 55 branches and add 1,800
positions this year. The Cherry Hill, N.J.-based company
expects to expand into three new markets — the Baltimore-
Washington metropolitan area, Connecticut and the Lehigh Valley in
Pennsylvania, it said in a statement.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the world’s largest accounting
firm, plans to increase its work force worldwide by as much as 6
percent this year, Chief Executive Samuel DiPiazza Jr. said in an
interview on Jan. 26. Stricter U.S. accounting standards are
increasing demand for the company’s accountants, he said.
About 2 million jobs may be added to the economy this year, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig, who recently gave a speech to business leaders in Oklahoma City.
Job gains totaled 2.23 million in 2004, making it the
best year for growth since 1999. The government is to release the
January employment figures on Feb. 4.
Bloomberg News
