"We are seeing significant improvement in claims. What we need to see is more progress on the hiring side."
- Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas
Ahead of the key Federal Reserve's meeting, where Bernanke is expected to decide whether to start tapering of its quantitative easing or continue stimulating the world's largest economy, several reports from the U.S. labour market are suggesting the market continues to notch slows, but steady gains. The U.S. Labor Department said the number of American filing applications for the jobless benefits fell in the week ending August 31, as companies are holding the line on dismissals. The total number of initial jobless claims fell 9,000 to 323,000, from 332,000 a week earlier, while the less-volatile four-week moving average declined to 328,500 last week, reaching the lowest since October 2007. Moreover, the number of unemployed people continuing to receive help from the government plunged 43,000 to 2.95 million.
In a separate report the Automatic Data Processing said the U.S. non-farm employment advanced in August, however, less than expected. Payrolls increased 176,000 last month, down from 198,000 a month earlier. On Friday the report will show the U.S. unemployment rate, which is expected to remain unchanged. Nonetheless, the jobless rate followed the downtrend since 2010, and now stands at 7.4%, as the economy created 2.3 million jobs, pushing the rate lower from the previous year's 8.1%.
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