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August 9, 2007
WASHINGTON - The number of newly laid off people signing up for jobless benefits rose last week, suggesting that employment conditions are softening a bit.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance increased by a seasonally adjusted 7,000, to 316,000, for the week ending Aug. 4. The increase left claims at their highest point since late June.
Economists had predicted that claims would be lower, about 310,000, for last week. Still, claims are lower now than they were a year ago, when they stood at 319,000.
Other recent indicators suggest some cooling in hiring, partly reflecting the toll of the sour housing market and struggles in the auto industry.
Last week the government reported that the nation’s unemployment rate nudged up to 4.6 percent in July, a six-month high. Job creation also slowed.
Employers increased payrolls by 92,000 last month, down from 126,000 in June, the government said last week. It marked the fewest add-ons in a month since February.
In Thursday’s layoffs report, the four-week moving average of new claims rose last week to 307,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week. It was the highest level since July 21.
The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits rose by 39,000, to 2.56 million, for the workweek ending July 28, the most recent period for which the information is available. That was the highest since early July.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his central bank colleagues said Tuesday that they expected the labor market and the national economy to hold up under the strains caused by Wall Street turbulence, tightening credit conditions and the housing slump.
They predicted that the economy would expand at a moderate pace in the months ahead.
Against this backdrop, Fed policymakers kept an important interest rate at 5.25 percent, where it has been for more than a year.
After nearly stalling in the first three months of this year, the economy rebounded in the April-to-June quarter, growing at a solid 3.4 percent pace. Growth is expected to be slower the rest of the year — about 2.5 percent.
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