The number of people applying for benefits fell last week to 366,000, the fewest since May 2008. If the number stayed that low consistently, it would likely signal that hiring is strong enough for unemployment rates to fall.
Employers added a net total of 120,000 jobs last month. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row — the first time that has happened since April 2006.
The U.S. unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than 2-1/2 years as more of the unemployed either found jobs or gave up looking and were no longer counted as jobless.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2 percent in the July-September quarter, lower than an initial 2.5-percent estimate made last month. The government also said after-tax incomes fell by the largest amount in two years.
Indiana’s jobless rate rose to 9 percent in October, up from 8.9 percent the previous month, marking the fifth straight month the state’s unemployment rate has risen.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since early April, a sign that layoffs are easing and hiring may pick up.
The national economy added 80,000 jobs last month, the fewest in four months, but the unemployment rate dipped from 9.1 percent to 9 percent.
Indiana's unemployment rate rose for a fourth straight month in September, to a seasonally adjusted 8.9 percent, inching closer to the overall national rate of 9.1 percent.
Despite President Barack Obama's exhortations, the Senate prepared to swiftly kill his jobs package Tuesday and the White House and congressional leaders were already moving on to other ways to cut the nation's painfully high unemployment without raising taxes.
The burst of hiring followed a sluggish summer for the economy—and at least temporarily calms fears of a new recession that have hung over Wall Street and the nation for weeks.
Unemployed Indiana residents can file for an additional six weeks of jobless benefits beginning Oct. 16.
Workers taking voluntary buyouts will no longer be eligible for state unemployment benefits in Indiana beginning Saturday, and severance pay will be counted against unemployment payouts.
Weekly unemployment applications dropped 37,000, to a seasonally adjusted 391,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the lowest level since April 2 and the first time applications have fallen below 400,000 since Aug. 6.
Indiana’s jobless rate increased for the second straight month, reaching its highest level since February.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level in three months, another sign that the job market remains depressed.
As the national economy sputters, the Indianapolis area is losing jobs faster than its peers, falling to levels not seen since 2002.
Indiana’s jobless rate moved up from 8.3 percent in June. The rate had held steady at 8.2 percent the previous two months.
Funding for the state’s work-force-development agencies to help Hoosiers develop job skills has fallen sharply, even as unemployment remains high and the economy is still shaky.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week below 400,000 for the first time in four months, a sign that the job market may be improving again slowly after a recent slump.
Hiring picked up slightly in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent, an optimistic sign after the worst day on Wall Street in nearly three years.
