The job market got a bucket of good news Thursday showing private sector hiring picking up and new claims for unemployment benefits dropping.Read the rest here.
The Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell 15,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 372,000 in the week ended Dec. 31 from a revised 387,000 in the prior week. The four-week moving average, seen as a better gauge of labor market trends, dropped 3,250 to 373,250.
Applications have declined steadily over the past three months and have dropped in four of the past five weeks. The four-week moving average fell 11 percent in 2011, evidence that companies are laying off fewer workers.
Meanwhile, businesses boosted hiring by more than expected in December, a private sector employment survey showed Thursday.
U.S. private employers added 325,000 jobs in December, according to the ADP National Employment Report jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the report would show a gain of 178,000 jobs.
Joel Prakken of Macroeconomic Advisers struck a note of caution, telling reporters that the December surge in hiring might have been caused in part by year-end seasonal factors and revisions were possible.
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Strangely, the drop in unemployment benefit applications has also meant that there are fewer people actually employed. Just because people have given up, stopped looking due to frustration, or they've exhausted their benefits, doesn't mean that the unemployment situation has improved. Sorry. This is statistical obfuscation and sleight of hand. We shouldn't be surprised at this anymore from the government.
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