Subject: New Jobless Claims Lowest of Bush Tenure
From: JimmyD

Last week's drop marked the third
week in a row that claims went down and left claims at their lowest
level
since Jan. 20, 2001 - President Bush's inauguration day.

The latest snapshot of the labor market suggested that businesses may
be
feeling less inclined to hand out pink slips to workers as the economy
shows
signs of gaining traction.

Dec 31, 10:42 AM (ET)

By JEANNINE AVERSA

WASHINGTON (AP) - New claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the
lowest level in nearly three years, a sign that America's businesses
are
feeling more confident that the economic recovery is genuine.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that new applications filed for
unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 15,000 to
339,000 for the week ending Dec. 27. Last week's drop marked the third
week in a row that claims went down and left claims at their lowest
level
since Jan. 20, 2001 - President Bush's inauguration day.

The latest snapshot of the labor market suggested that businesses may
be
feeling less inclined to hand out pink slips to workers as the economy
shows
signs of gaining traction.

"There is clearly reason for optimism that we are getting on a
significant job-generation track," said
Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.

On Wall Street, stocks were mixed. The Dow Jones
industrials were up about 7
points, while the Nasdaq was down around 8 points in
morning trading.

The report was better than economists were expecting. They
were forecasting a
smaller decline that would hav e pushed claims down to a
level of around 350,000.

Claims have been below 400,000 for 13 consecutive weeks,
something economists
view as a sign that the fragile labor market may be turning
a crucial corner.

The more stable four-week moving average of claims, which
smooths out week to
week fluctuations, decreased last week by 6,500 to 355,750,
the lowest level since
Feb. 10, 2001.

New claims hit a high this year of 459,000 in the middle of
April and have slowly
declined, a development cited by Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan and
other economists who say the pace of layoffs is
stabilizing.

The labor market has displayed other signs of improvement
in
recent months. The nation's unemployment rate currently
stands
at 5.9 percent - down from a high this summer of 6.4 percent.

But job growth has been slow.

Since Bush took office, the economy has lost 2.3 million jobs, a
development that
Democrats hope to use against the president as he seeks re-election in
2004. The
Bush administration contends that stronger economic growth will
eventually lead to
more meaningful job creation on a sustained basis.

The uncertain job climate is on Americans' minds.

Consumer confidence dipped in December amid anxiety about the job
market, the
Conference Board reported Tuesday. The board's consumer confidence
index slipped
to 91.3 in December, following a surge in November to a revised figure
of 92.5, its
highest level in more than a year.

Economists believe the labor market will be the last part of the
economy to recover
even as the economy expands solidly.

The economy grew at a breakneck 8.2 percent annual rate in the third
quarter, the best performance in
nearly two decades. Analysts believe the economy slowed to a rate in
the range of around 4 percent or
5 percent in the current quarter, which would still mark a solid
showing.

Wednesday's report also showed that the number of unemployed people
collecting jobless benefits for
more than a week rose by 81,000 to 3.3 million for the week ending Dec.
20, the most recent period for
which that information is available. This suggests that jobs are still
hard to find for some workers.

Economists believe that as companies' profits improve they will feel
even more comfortable about
ramping up investment and hiring new people, two crucial ingredients to
the recovery's staying power.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031231/D7VPESOO0.html

What a way to end the year