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"The labor market is improving"
- Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits tumbled to 381 thousand last week from 404 thousand the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. Economists expected the reading to decline to 397 thousand.
"The labor market is improving," said Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York. "The numbers are moving in the right direction. You have to be careful because we're around the Thanksgiving holiday and the Department of Labor has a hard time adjusting around floating holidays."
"It looks as if the U.S. labor market does not know how to spell the word euro contagion," said Cary Leahey, economist at Decision Economics in New York. "This is a good report ... adds to the sense that the job market continues to brighten, though very slowly."