New Jobless Claims Dip to Lowest Level in 17 Months

2 years ago

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Morning Editor

In a sign that the job market may be stabilizing as the economy recovers, the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week. The Labor Department says new claims fell by 22,000 to 432,000, the lowest since July 2008, CNN reports.

The number of jobless workers continuing to claim benefits dropped 57,000 to 4.9 million, which was better than analysts had expected. However, those continuing claims do not include millions of people who have used up the 26 weeks of benefits typically provided by states, and are receiving extended benefits paid for by the federal government.

Among individual states, Michigan had the largest increase in jobless claims, according to the Associated Press. California, Florida, Iowa and Missouri saw the next largest increases. Tennessee saw the largest decrease in claims, followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.

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