Jobless claims drop to almost a four-year low

6:41 PM almost, claims, fouryear, Jobless No Comments

The U.S. labor market got another jolt of good news Thursday when the government reported new claims for jobless benefits dropped to almost the lowest they have been in four years.

The Labor Department said seasonally adjusted claims dropped by 15,000 to 358,000 in the week ended Feb. 4. That's the second lowest level since April 2008, before the financial crisis that sent the U.S. economy into its worst recession since the Great Depression.

The four-week moving average, considered a more accurate reading of the health of the job market, dropped 11,000 to 366,250, also the lowest since April 2008.

"It's great news. Claims continue to look better every week, every month ... the headline number is great," said Frank Lesh, Futures Analyst and broker at Futurepath Trading LLC.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 370,000. The claims data pointed to building strength in the labor market. The economy has had two straight months of job gains above 200,000 and the unemployment rate dropped to a three-year low of 8.3 percent in January.

Solid employment gains and strong manufacturing activity have prompted analysts to temper their expectations of a sharp slowdown in growth in the first quarter after a brisk 2.8 percent annual pace in the final three months of 2011.

The upbeat data have raised doubts about the Federal Reserve's expectation that it could hold interest rates near zero at least through late 2014 and reduced the odds of a third round of bond buying to spur the recovery.

Last week's decline in both new applications for jobless benefits and the four-week average pushed them closer to the 350,000 mark that economists say would signal sustained labor market strength.

Despite the continued improvement, the labor market recovery still has a long away to go. The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid rose 64,000 to 3.52 million in the week ended January 28. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Jobless want you to quit already!

4:14 PM already, Jobless No Comments

Even though some employees are frustrated with their jobs because the tough economy has led to furloughs, wage freezes, and cuts in benefits, many of them aren’t upset enough to say, “I quit!”

More workers are reluctant to leave their employer and it’s shrinking job opportunities for the unemployed , underemployed and those looking to find new work horizons, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday. Turns out, some workers are just too scared to take a chance on a new gig in this job market.

U.S. Labor Department statistics showed that less than 2 million workers quit their jobs last month. That’s way less than the three million, on average, that did so before the Great Recession.

With fewer workers heading out the door, there’s less churning in the work market. That churning is what’s keeping the number of job openings at low levels, said Steven Davis, a University of Chicago economist quoted in the Journal's story.

“For workers who are unemployed, if there’s less churning of jobs, it’s harder to get on the merry-go-round,” he maintained. “There’s just fewer openings arising.”

Even though the unemployment rate dipped to 8.3 percent last month, there were still nearly 13 million jobless searching for work, and the number of discouraged workers, or workers who gave up looking, topped 1 million.

It’s hard to blame people from getting discouraged, especially if people are refusing to leave their present gigs in such high numbers.

According to the Labor Department’s data, the number of you exiting your gigs bottomed out in 2010. “The 2007-2008 recession was longer and deeper, but more than one-and-a-half years after it ended, the quite rate has yet to rebound significantly,” the Journal article stated.

But is it skittishness over the dismal job market what’s got many of workers staying put?

One study released yesterday shows they may just like their job too much to leave. Regus, a workplace efficiency firm, surveyed more than 5,000 employees in the United States and found over 64 percent are enjoying their current jobs more than they were two years ago this month.

According to the poll: "Workers in Austin, TX; Portland, OR and Chicago, IL, where the burgeoning technology industry and local economies have responded better to last year's economic tumult, are more in love with their jobs than their peers in New York, NY and Charlotte, NC; where the financial and banking sectors have been slower to recover.”

One group that is seeing some churn is the corner-office set. Last month, there was a surge in the number of CEOs leaving their firms, with a total of 123 leaving, a study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm, found.

So, what’s your career story? Why haven’t you quit your job? 

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