"The labour market is certainly getting better"
- Brian Jones, senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale
New applications for the unemployment benefits in the world's biggest economy dropped significantly during the last week, pointing to further improvement in the labour market. The Labor Department said that the number of people who applied for U.S. jobless benefits dropped by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 330,000 in the week ended January 19, down from 335,000 a week earlier. The four-week moving average, which is a less volatile measure, stood at 351,750, from the previous week's revised average of 360,000. At the same time, employers added 155,000 in the last month of 2012, nearly matched the average of 153,000 jobs per month in 2011 and 2012. The number of people, who continue to receive unemployment aid, however, fell by 71,000 to 3.16 million in the week ended on January 12.
"The labor market is certainly getting better," said Brian Jones, senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who projected 345,000 claims. Even with the seasonal adjustment issues, "this is still a good report. Chances are claims remain at a fairly low level."
"Encouraging news on the U.S. jobs front, even when you remove all of the noise," said Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.
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