The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting that a sharp slowdown in job growth last month was probably an aberration.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 280,000 for the week ended Sept. 13, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the lowest level since July. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported.
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Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to only 305,000 last week.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, slipped 4,750 to 299,500. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data.
Last week's data covered the period during which employers were surveyed for September's nonfarm payrolls. Claims fell 19,000 from the August to September survey periods.
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That suggests payrolls growth rebounded from August's eight-month low, which most economists dismissed as a fluke, noting that payroll gains tend to be smaller in August because of problems adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations in hiring. The initial report for August found that e mployers added only 142,000 jobs to their payrolls , snapping six consecutive months of job increases above 200,000.
The jobless claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 63,000 to 2.43 million in the week ended Sept. 6. That was the lowest level since May 2007.
The unemployment rate for people receiving jobless benefits fell to 1.8 percent, the lowest level since November 2006, from 1.9 percent in the prior week.
A separate report showed U.S. housing starts and permits fell in August, but upward revisions to the prior month's data suggested the housing market continued to gradually improve.
Groundbreaking declined 14.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 956,000-unit pace, the Commerce Department said. July's starts were revised to show a 1.12-million unit rate, the highest level since November 2007, instead of the previously reported 1.09-million unit rate.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast starts slipping to a 1.04-million unit rate last month.
Housing is clawing back after suffering a setback following a spike in mortgage rates last year. However, it remains constrained by a relatively high unemployment rate and stringent lending practices by financial institutions.