Jobless Claims Fall But Sandy Dampens Recovery

WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week but remained elevated due to Hurricane Sandy, a sign that the storm is proving to be a substantial disruption to the labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 41,000 to a seasonally adjusted 410,000, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. That was smack in line with the median forecast in a Reuters poll.

The drop in claims only partially unwinds the 90,000-claim increase registered the prior week. The Labor Department revised upward its estimate for new claims in the week ending Nov. 10 to 451,000.

An analyst from the department said several states were still reporting an increase in claims due to Hurrican Sandy, a mammoth storm that slammed into the East Coast on Oct. 29.

The storm left millions of homes and businesses without electricity, shut down public transportation and led many factories in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast to curtail production. Retail sales fell as Sandy slammed the brakes on automobile purchases last month.

However, the economic impact of the storm is likely to be temporary.

The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smoothes out volatility, rose 9,500 to 396,250. Economists generally think a reading below 400,000 points to an increase in employment.

Continuing claims for jobless benefits dropped 30,000 in the week ended Nov. 10 to a seasonally adjusted 3.337 million, the Labor Department said.

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