Jobless claims tumble in positive sign for economy

By Patrick Rizzo

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped sharply in the latest week, The Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims tumbled to 391,000, down 37,000 from a revised 428,000 in the previous week and below the key 400,000 mark. Economists say that claims need to drop below 400,000 for an extended period to put a dent in the 9.1 percent unemployment rate. They need to drop below 375,000 for substantial job growth.

"That drop is good, but we're so jaded as investors that it is almost a nonbeliever. Hard to believe that this number is true," Todd Schoenberger, managing director of Landholt Trading, told Reuters.

The 4-week moving average, which smoothes out wrinkles in the data, was 417,000, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 422,250.

The Associated Press reported that a Labor Department spokesman said some of the weekly?drop was due to technical difficulties related to seasonally adjusting the figures. The spokesman added some states also reported higher applications in previous weeks due to Hurricane Irene, The AP story said.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/29/8033810-jobless-claims-tumble-in-latest-week

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