NEW YORK — Fewer Americans applied for unemployment insurance payments last week, indicating limited progress in the labor market after a two-month slowdown in hiring.
First-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 12,000 to 377,000 in the week ended June 2 from a revised 389,000 a week earlier,
the Labor Department said Thursday. The median estimate of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for 378,000 claims. The number of people receiving extended payments plunged.
The claims figures may ease concern of further labor market weakness after a report last week showed employers in May added the fewest workers in a year. While sustained demand is encouraging companies to maintain headcounts, stronger sales may be required to prompt a pickup in hiring.
“It’s pretty clear claims are stabilizing,” said Michael Englund, chief economist at Action Economics in Boulder, who forecast 375,000 claims. “It’s hard to make the case that there’s any upward tilt to growth,” so companies are being cautious, he said.
The four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile measure, climbed to 377,750, the highest in a month, from 376,000.
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits increased 34,000 in the week ended May 26 to 3.29 million. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments slumped by almost 105,000 in the week ended May 19 to 2.83 million.
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its Beige Book assessment of the economy that hiring was “steady or showed a modest increase” from early April to late May. The report gives central bankers anecdotal evidence on the health of the economy two weeks before they meet in Washington.
“The economy is starting to recover, and we’re actually seeing the first signs of some positive growth,” Clorox chief executive Lawrence Peiros said in a May 31 analyst meeting. “Our categories are starting to get a bit healthier as we get out of the recession, as the economy recovers and consumers get back to buying products.”
