WASHINGTON: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting that a sharp slowdown in job growth last month was probably an aberration.
While other data on Thursday showed some weakness in home building and factory activity, the underlying trend remained supportive of solid economic growth.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 280,000 for the week ended Sept. 13, the lowest level since July, the Labor Department said.
"These data strongly suggest that the slowdown in payroll growth in August was a misleading indicator of the pace of job creation," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to only 305,000 last week. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, slipped 4,750 to 299,500.
The data came a day after the Federal Reserve renewed a pledge to keep interest rates near zero for a "considerable time," while hinting at a faster pace of rate hikes than the U.S. central bank was signaling a few months ago.
The dollar hit a more than six-year high against the yen, while U.S. Treasury prices fell. U.S. stocks were trading higher, with the S&P 500 brushing against resistance at a record peak.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department said housing starts fell 14.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 956,000-unit pace last month. July's starts were revised to show a 1.12-million unit rate, the highest level since November 2007, instead of the previously reported 1.09-million unit rate.
That helped to take some of the sting out of the report, which also showed permits fell 5.6 percent to a 998,000-unit pace in August. The drop was mostly centered in the multi-family segment, a very volatile series.
HOUSING RECOVERY ON TRACK
Single-family starts in the South, where about half of U.S. single-family construction takes place, increased last month to an eight-month high. Permits in the South hit their highest level since April 2008.
Housing is clawing back after suffering a setback following a spike in mortgage rates last year. It, however, remains constrained by a relatively high unemployment rate and stringent lending practices by financial institutions.
But with the labor market gaining traction, economists expect housing activity to accelerate next year.
"A moderate housing recovery remains on track," said Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays in New York.
Separately, the Philadelphia Fed said its business activity index fell to 22.5 in September from a reading of 28.0 in August. Any reading above zero indicates expansion in the region's manufacturing.
Despite that drop, factory employment hit its highest level since May 2011 and new orders accelerated from August's levels, showing underlying strength in one of the major pillars of the economy.
Last week's jobless claims data covered the period during which employers were surveyed for September's non-farm payrolls. Claims fell 19,000 between the August and September survey periods.
That suggests payrolls growth rebounded from August's eight-month low, which most economists dismissed as a fluke, noting that payroll gains tend to be smaller in August because of problems adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations in hiring.
Employers added only 142,000 jobs to their payrolls in August, snapping six consecutive months of job increases above 200,000.
The jobless claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 63,000 to 2.43 million in the week ended Sept. 6. That was the lowest level since May 2007.
The unemployment rate for people receiving jobless benefits fell to 1.8 percent, the lowest level since November 2006, from 1.9 percent in the prior week.
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