"The labour market is improving but only at a very steady pace"
- Yelena Shulyatyeva, a U.S. economist at BNP Paribas
The number of Americans who lost their jobs dropped during the last week, a sign of healing in the labour market. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 341,000 in the week ended February 9, down from 368,000 in the preceding week. The less volatile four-week moving average for new claims, a gauge of the trend in layoffs, however, rose by 1,500 to 352,500. At the same time, the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programmes after an initial week of aid declined 130,000 to 3.11 million in the week ended February 2.
"The labour market is improving but only at a very steady pace," said Yelena Shulyatyeva, a U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York, who had the lowest forecast in the Bloomberg survey. "What we need is acceleration in hiring to move the unemployment rate lower."
"Clients are continuing to be very conservative in adding new staff and making new investments," Sal Lannuzzi, chairman and chief executive officer of the New York-based company, said on a Feb. 7 earnings call. In the U.S., "we do signs of recovery, but they are very tentative."
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