The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits slid last week to the lowest level in more than four and a half years.
The Labor Department report yesterday was the latest data to suggest improvement in the jobs market, though the surprisingly large 30,000 drop in new claims may have reflected distortions due to seasonal adjustments.
A Labor Department analyst said seasonal factors had predicted a very large increase in claims last week, which he said would be typical for the first week of the quarter. Unadjusted claims did rise, but far less than expected, resulting in the sharp drop in the seasonally adjusted figure.
He noted that one state reported a decline in claims last week when a rise had been expected. No states had been estimated for the report, he said.
California, given its large population and past “massive swings” in its claims data, was probably the state that caused the sharp drop in the seasonally adjusted figure, analysts said.
A second Labor Department official said “a processing issue” resulted in the state, which he did not identify, reporting fewer claims than expected.