Evidence hiring may pick up after applications for unemployment dips to 367K

WASHINGTON – The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits ticked down last week after dropping sharply the previous week, evidence hiring could pick up this month.

Weekly applications dropped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000 in the week ending May 5, the Labor Department said Thursday. The previous week's figure was revised up slightly.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 5,250 to 379,000.

Applications are a measure of the pace of layoffs. When they stay consistently below 375,000, it suggests job growth is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate has dropped a full percentage point since August -- to 8.1 percent in April. That's good news for President Barack Obama, for whom the economy is the top issue as he faces a general election in November.

Applications are falling again after rising for most of April. The spike in applications coincided with weaker hiring in March and April. That raised fears that the job market is sputtering after a strong winter.

From December through February, employers had created an average 252,000 jobs a month. That was the best three months of job growth since the recession ended in June 2009, not counting months thrown off by the hiring of temporary census workers in 2010.

The recent jobs picture has been clouded by a unseasonably warm weather. That allowed construction firms and other companies to hire earlier than usual, effectively stealing jobs from the spring. Economists are puzzling out how much of the slower hiring in March and April was weather-related payback and how much reflects economic weakness.

More than 500,000 Americans have left the work force since February. That's one reason -- and not a good one -- that unemployment has continued to fall. People who are out of work but not looking for jobs aren't counted among the unemployed.

The economy grew at a disappointing 2.2 percent from January through March, a rate consistent with less than 110,000 new jobs a month.

There's still has a long way to go. The United States has regained only about 3.8 million, or 43 percent, of the 8.8 million jobs lost during and immediately after the recession.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits also dropped. That is partly because extended benefit programs are winding down. More than 6.4 million people received benefits during the week that ended April 21, down nearly 175,000 from the previous week.

The government did release some good news this week: In March, employers advertised 3.74 million job openings, the most since July 2008. The increase in U.S. job openings suggests that weaker hiring gains in March and April could be temporary. It usually takes one to three months for employers to fill openings.