WASHINGTON — New jobless claims fell slightly last week while the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose, a sign that the job market’s recovery will be long and bumpy.
While most economists believe the recession has ended, they predict the jobless rate will keep rising until at least next summer. The worry is that household incomes will remain depressed and that consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the total economy, will continue to lag.
The Labor Department said the number of laid-off workers applying for benefits dipped to 570,000 last week from an upwardly revised 574,000. That was a weaker performance than the drop to 560,000 claims that economists expected.
The number of people receiving jobless benefits totaled 6.23 million, up 92,000 from the previous week, which had been the lowest level since early April. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected that number, which lags new claims by a week, to fall to 6.13 million.
Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a gauge of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new workers.
First-time claims have trended down in recent months and are well below the recession’s high of 674,000 hit in the first week in April. But even with the improvement, they are running at levels well above the 325,000 mark considered a sign of a healthy labor market.
