The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has declined last week, the latest evidence that sharp economic slowdown which has struck the United States in the first quarter hasn’t caused employers to cut jobs.
Weekly employment benefit applications have now fallen by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted figure of 312,000, the Labor Department announced in their report on Thursday. The four-week average a less volatile measure, has now risen 2,000 to 314,000.
According to the Labor Departments’ reports the average has fallen 9% since the beginning of the year. The applications are a proxy of layoffs, so the declines have indicated the fact that companies are cutting fewer jobs.
The figures have been announced a day after the government reported that the economy shrank 2.9% at an annual rate in the first three months of this year, this has been the worst reading since early 2009, when the United States recession was at its peak.
The number of people who have been receiving the benefits has now increase by 12,000 to 2.57 million. The this increase has been said to be small after the level fell to a six-year low in the previous week.