Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000 in the week ended Oct. 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had expected claims to rise.
The data adds to the view that strength is building in the U.S. economy. "The labor market is entering into a potential boom," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S economist at Deutsche Bank in New York...
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 7,250 to 287,750, its lowest level since 2006 ."
Here in Georgia, the political world should have the date of Oct. 21 circled in red. That's twhen final, pre-election unemployment figures for September are released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for every state in the country. (Georgia-only figures may be released a bit earlier by state officials.) Weekly initial jobless claims in Georgia were down in September to their lowest rate all year, so maybe that's a sign that we'll climb out of 50th place, although things are clearly improving in other states too.
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