Good News, Labor Market | featured news

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell further last week, ending the year on a three-month run of declines that point to stronger hiring in 2012. Weekly applications dropped by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 last week, the Labor Department said. That’s 11 percent lower than the same time last year and a positive sign ahead of Friday’s important read on December job growth.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor market conditions.

The ADP report showed private employers added 206,000 jobs this month, prompting economists to raise their forecasts for the U.S. labor report on Friday.

New claims for unemployment benefits fell last week and a gauge of labor market trends hit a six-month low, a government report showed on Thursday, pointing to an improvement in the jobs market.

New claims for unemployment benefits edged down last week, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to a modest improvement in the labor market at the start of the fourth quarter.

Americans filed fewer new claims for jobless benefits last week, data showed on Thursday, offering a glimmer of hope for the beleaguered labor market.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply for the second straight week, suggesting the job market is slowly recovering.

Job openings in March were the most in 2-1/2 years, a government report showed on Wednesday, pointing to a firming labor market tone.

Consumers felt better about the short-term outlook for the economy in April as expectations about the pace of inflation and concerns about the labor market eased.

More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first increase in three weeks. Still, the broader trend points to a slowly healing jobs market.