By The Associated Press
APPLICATIONS FALL: Weekly
applications for U.S. unemployment aid fell 23,000 last week to a
seasonally adjusted 369,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The
drop came after the figures were distorted for two weeks by technical
problems.
MODEST HIRING: The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 368,000. That level is consistent with modest hiring.
LITTLE CHANGE: Applications
have fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 since January. At the same
time, employers have added an average of nearly 150,000 jobs a month.
That's barely been enough to lower the unemployment rate, which has
declined from 8.3 percent to 7.8 percent this year.
