Queue Of Newly Jobless Shrinks In U.S.

WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (AFP) - The queue of newly jobless Americans shrank a bit last week, a government report showed Thursday, in a modestly hopeful sign for a sluggish labor market.
The number of new claimants for unemployment benefits fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 331,000 in the week ended August 14, matching a decline of 3,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said.
A four-week average of new claims, which smoothes out weekly distortions, dropped 2,500 to 337,000.
In raw, unadjusted figures, the number of new claims tumbled 25,039 to 266,235. There were 312,087 claims in the comparable period last year.
The pool of existing claimants -- those making claims for at least two weeks -- rose 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.90 million in the week ended August 7, the latest date for which those numbers were available.