WASHINGTON —The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments declined last week, indicating the labor-market recovery is gaining traction.
Applications for jobless benefits decreased 15,000 in the week ended Feb. 4 to 358,000, Labor Department figures showed Thursday. Economists forecast 370,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure of claims, declined to 366,250, the lowest since April 26, 2008.
The easing of dismissals is moving in tandem with a drop in the unemployment rate, which fell in January to a three-year low of 8.3 percent. Job creation also accelerated last month, showing the world’s largest economy is making headway in restoring the 8.3 million jobs lost during the 2007-09 recession.
“The recent positive momentum over the past two months is being sustained,” said Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in New York, who projected 360,000 claims. “If we stay within this range, then we should see employment growth pick up.”
The Labor Department initially reported the prior week’s applications at 367,000. A Labor Department official said Thursday there was “nothing unusual” among the state-reported data.
People continuing to collect jobless benefits rose by 64,000 in the week ended Jan. 28 to 3.52 million. The continuing-claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, rose to 2.8 percent in the week ended Jan. 28 from 2.7 percent, Thursday’s report showed. Twenty-seven states and territories reported a decrease in claims, while 26 had an increase.
