New jobless claims fell more than expected last week, but continuing claims set a new record for the eighth straight week and few economists expect the national labor market to improve anytime soon. The Labor Department said today that initial requests for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 646,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 658,000. That was better than analysts’ expectations.
But continuing claims jumped 185,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.47 million, another record high and more than the roughly 5.33 million that economists expected. Other economic news was slightly more upbeat. A private sector group’s index of leading economic indicators dropped less than expected in February, although growth is not expected before next year. On the housing front, rates on 30-year mortgages plunged to the lowest level since January, and may fall further after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to prop up the flailing housing market.
