The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined last week, showing further progress in the labour market.
Jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to 305,000 in the week ended 21 September, a US Labor Department report has shown.
An official at the agency said there were no special factors and California has caught up with a recent backlog of new applications stemming from a computer system changeover.
The median forecast of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase to 325,000.
Fewer dismissals may be a sign employers are optimistic about the demand outlook in the US.
Further gains in employment and improved income growth will be necessary to spur bigger advances in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the economy.
Economists’ estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from claims of 310,000 to 370,000 after the prior week’s previously reported 309,000.
Computer-system upgrades by California and Nevada had skewed jobless claims data during the month. California’s claims in the period ended 14 September surged 22,611 as the state began a full week of processing applications.
Filings in Nevada that same week rose 2,504.
Both state employment agencies have now worked through their backlogs, the Labor Department official said as the figures were released. No states estimated jobless claims last week.
The four-week average dropped to 308,000, the lowest since June 2007, from 315,000 in the prior week, today’s figures show.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits increased by 35,000 to 2.82 million in the week ended 14 September. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programmes.
Those who have used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments increased by about 32,500 to 1.35 million in the week ended 7 September.
The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits increased to 2.2% in the week ended 14 September.
Thirty-eight states and territories reported an increase in claims, while 15 reported a decline. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
While the country’s labour market has shown improvement, the slow pace may be a source of concern for some consumers.
The Conference Board’s confidence index fell to 79.7 this month, the weakest reading since May.
The share of Americans who said jobs would become more plentiful in the next six months fell to 16.9% from 17.5%.
At the same time, the gap between those who said work opportunities are currently scarce, and those who said they are easy to get, shrank to the lowest since September 2008.
