Jobless claims dropped more than economists had expected last week as the number Americans filing new claims for unemployment dropped 20,000 to 321,000.

The Labor department couldn’t offer any real reason that the number of jobless claims dropped so dramatically. The week before, they gained 5,000.

Wall Street analysts had expected that new jobless claims would drop about 10,000 to 330,000. I’m sure they were astonished when the decrease was double that. According to Bloomberg News,

New claims averaged about 325,000 in the first four months of the year, down from 350,000 a year ago, and payrolls grew almost twice as much in April as they did in March, suggesting businesses foresee the economic expansion gaining after growth slowed to 3.1 percent in the first quarter. Adjustments for an early Easter this year distorted claims figures during April.

Today’s number “keeps the view of a gradual bounce-back from the `soft patch’ pace of growth very much alive,” Anthony Chan, a senior economist at JP Morgan Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio, said before the release.
The amount of Americans remaining on benefit rolls after receiving for a week went up for the third week in a row. The number increased by 5,000 to 2.60 million in the week ended May 7.

The insured unemployment rate remained at its lowest in 4 years at 2% in this same week. According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate was at 5.2% in April, 5.4% in February, and 5.5% in April 2004.

Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.