Applications for jobless aid increase 2,000 to 414,000

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits ticked up slightly last week, evidence that the job market isn’t improving.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 414,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The report suggests companies aren’t significantly increasing layoffs, despite weak economic growth. But it also signals that little hiring is taking place.

Applications need to fall below 375,000 to indicate sustainable job growth. They haven’t been below that level since February.

The government said last week that employers added no net jobs in August, the worst month for hiring since September 2010. The unemployment rate was 9.1 percent for the second-straight month.

“We’re not making headway here,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc. The report is “consistent with little if any change in overall employment.”

Separately, the Commerce Department said that U.S. manufacturers sold more cars, airplanes and industrial machinery in foreign markets in July. That boosted exports and cut the trade deficit to its lowest level in three months.

The trade deficit narrowed to $44.8 billion in July, down 13.1 percent from June.

Economists say companies are reluctant to hire but are not cutting workers. Unemployment-benefit applications are considered a measure of the pace of layoffs.

Still, the four-week average, a less-volatile measure, increased for the third- straight week to 414,750.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell 30,000 to 3.7 million, the government said.

But that doesn’t include an additional 3.5 million receiving extended benefits under an emergency program enacted during the recession. All told, about 7.2 million people received benefits in the week ending Aug. 20, the latest data available.

That’s down 167,000 from the previous week. Some recipients may have gotten jobs, but many likely used all their benefits.

Employers pulled back on hiring after a rough summer for the economy. The government reported that the economy barely grew in the first half of the year. Lawmakers in Washington fought over raising the government’s borrowing limit. Standard & Poor’s downgraded long-term U.S. debt. Stocks tumbled from late July until early August.