Unemployment Rolls Shrink for First Time Since January

The Associated Press reports:

The total number of people on the unemployment insurance rolls has dropped for the first time since early January, while first-time claims for benefits rose slightly.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the total unemployment insurance rolls fell last week by 148,000 to 6.76 million, the largest drop in more than seven years and an indication that layoffs may be easing.

The drop also breaks a string of 21 consecutive increases, the last 19 of which were record-highs. A dip in continuing claims several weeks ago was later revised higher.

The department also said initial claims rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 608,000 last week, above analysts’ expectations. The four-week average, which smoothes fluctuations, fell by 7,000 to 615,750. Continuing claims data lags initial claims by one week.

The drop in continuing claims could signal a slowing in the rise of the unemployment rate, which reached a 25-year high of 9.4 percent in May. Many economists forecast the rate could reach 10 percent by the end of the year.

Of course, one good week does not a trend make, but positive economic news is so hard to come by lately — and even this is a mixed bag. At this point, we’ll take what we can get.