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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe number of newly laid-off workers filing claims nationally for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week,
a sign the job market is healing as the economy slowly recovers.
The Labor Department said today that new claims
for unemployment insurance fell by 22,000, to a seasonally adjusted 432,000, the lowest since July 2008. That’s much better
than the rise to 460,000 that Wall Street economists expected.
The number of jobless workers continuing to claim
benefits dropped by 57,000, to 4.9 million, also better than the increase that analysts expected.
Economists closely
monitor initial claims, which are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to
hire new workers.
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