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Job Market Strong Thursday, June 22,
2000 By Nancy Waitz
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
- The number of new applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly
rose by 5,000 in the latest week, the government said on Thursday
in a report that showed the U.S. job market still remained
strong. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance rose
to 302,000 in the week ended June 17 from a revised 297,000,
the Labor Department said.
The department
originally reported new claims at 296,000 in the June 10 week.
The surprising rise in new claims defied economists' expectations
for a drop to 293,000 but the data had no discernible impact
on financial markets. Although the overall trend suggests
tight labor conditions, the closely-watched four-week moving
average, which irons out week-to-week volatility, has gently
risen over the past three weeks to 300,500 in the week ended
June 17 from 296,250 in the June 10 week.
This more accurate
barometer of employment market trends breached 300,000 --
a level seen as signaling a thriving job market -- for the
first time since Oct. 16, 1999 and rose to its highest level
since 305,250 in the July 17, 1999 week.
But Harvinder
Kalirai, senior economist at IDEAglobal.com, said the four-week
moving average claims level was still consistent with an economy
creating jobs at a strong clip. This latest data would please
the Federal Reserve, which has raised interest rates six times
over the past year to prevent the U.S. economy from overheating.
But Kalirai said it did not provide enough evidence yet of
a cooling in the red-hot labor market . "It's a sign that
labor markets may not be tightening to the degree they were
earlier in the year but nevertheless they still continue to
tighten," Kalirai told Reuters Television.
The previous run
under the 300,000 claims level had lasted for 76 weeks from
July 1972 to January 1974. In the week ended June 10, the
week before the latest reported claims, Labor said 10 states
and Puerto Rico reported an increase in claims of more than
1,000, led by Pennsylvania with 5,109 additional claims. That
state said it had more layoffs in the construction, trade,
service, electrical equipment, transportation equipment, and
transportation industries.
In the same week,
two states reported a decrease of more than 1,000, led by
Texas with 2,398 fewer claims. The state gave no reason for
the decrease.
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