383,000 people applied for jobless benefits last week. That's lower than previous weeks.

[The Straight Story]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- New applications for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits fell 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000 in the week ended Feb. 5, hitting the lowest level since July of 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected an initial-claims level of 410,000. The level of claims helps observers to analyze the health of the labor market, and economists say claims would have to remain below 400,000 before there's a substantial gain in hiring. The last time claims were below 400,000 was in late December. In recent weeks weather has been behind some volatility in the data. The four-week average of new claims, which smoothes out some volatility, fell 16,000 to 415,500. Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people already receiving unemployment compensation, declined 47,000 to 3.89 million in the week ended Jan. 29. The four-week average of these continuing claims remained at 3.93 million. About 9.4 million Americans were getting some kind of state or federal unemployment benefit in the week ended Jan. 22, up about 106,000 from the prior week.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weekly-us-jobless-claims-drop-36000-2011-02-10

[Coyote_Bandit]

1. I can't help but wonder whether

383,000 unemployed folks got a job paying a living wage.

If not, then the labor force is still declining.

[MadHound]

2. That is probably an anomaly,

Considering that most of the country was swathed in over a foot of snow.

This week's figures will also probably be an anomaly, since again, we're getting a ton of snow.

[dmallind]

3. which would INcrease the numbers

as people who work outdoors are unable to work, whereas applications for UE are easy to do by phone or online.

[MadHound]

4. Umm, not all over the country,

And you are forgetting that nearly half this country's population has no home access to the internet, that percentage of the population that is most in need of unemployment insurance. So that leaves them having to forge their way through a foot plus worth of snow, only to find, as in my state, that state offices were closed down most of last week.