Initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 469,000, breaking two weeks of increases. Analysts had expected 470,000 claims for the period. The new data on unemployment for the last several weeks has been skewed as a result of disparate responses to weather-related work absence.
Alongside the unemployment data, retailers came forward with updates statistics indicating sales growth in February rose at its steepest incline since November 2007. The Commerce Department added that factory orders also grew for the month of January.
How this new information will affect hiring in the coming months remains to be seen; however, reports in the Fed Beige Book led officials to formulate low expectations for increased hiring in the coming months.
Last weeks drop only negates a percentage of the increases over the last two weeks. Over the course of 2010 the average claims number has grown by 20,000.
Still this weeks report is a positive indicator, pushing up the Dow upwards of 20 points in morning trading.
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