The number of American workers who applied for unemployment benefits last week dropped to its lowest level since April 2006. However, the government immediately curbed enthusiasm: errors in the communication of data by some states could have weighed on the figure. In particular, two states failed to deliver complete data due to technical problems related to the transition to a new computer system which made it impossible to receive and count all requests.
Initial jobless claims fell by 7 to 31 in the week ended Sept. 292, while analysts expected a rise to 330, according to the Labor Department. The previous week's figure remained unchanged at 323 units.
The four-week average, more reliable as it is not subject to market fluctuations, fell by 7.500 units to 321.250, the minimum since October 2007. The figure remains below 400 units, a threshold which, according to analysts, signals a stalemate.
The total number of workers who received unemployment benefits for more than a week – relating to the week ending August 31, the last for which data is available – dropped by 73 to 2.871.000, the lowest since March 2008.
