The number of jobless claims dropped unexpectedly last week by 8,000 for the third straight week, but the number of workers staying unemployed has risen about 18 per cent since early September, a US government report showed today.
The US Labor Department said first-time jobless claims - an indication of the state of the job market and the pace of layoffs - fell for the third straight week to 444,000 in the week ended November 10 versus a revised 452,000 for the prior week.
Private economists polled by Reutershad expected claims to rise to 466,000 in the November 10 week. Labor had originally reported claims at 450,000 for the November 3 week.
The report offered mixed signals. In a sign more workers are staying on the jobless rolls, the number of people who already qualified for benefits rose for the eighth consecutive week to 3.83 million in the week ended November 3, the latest period for which figures are available, to the highest since 3,865,000 in the February 12, 1983 week.
The so-called continued claims began their upward march on September 15, when they measured 3.28 million.