Jobless Claims Back To Square One

The US jobless benefit claims figure declined 16,000 to 453,000 in the latest week, according to the Labor Department. The decline has brought the new claims figure to the level it was towards the beginning of 2010. Economists had expected claims to move up to a seasonally adjusted 460,000 in the week ended September 25. The prior week's data for US jobless claims was revised up by 4,000 to 469,000. New claims for the four-week moving average declined 6,250 to 458,000, its lowest level since late July. In the week ended September 18, continuing claims dipped 83,000 to 4.46 million. Around 8.89 million people had filed for jobless benefits in the week ended September 11, down from 9.18 million in the previous week. Read more