By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — Jobless claims last week fell to their lowest point in four years, matching a level that was also reached a month ago and sparking more optimism that the employment market may be on the mend.
Labor Department figures showed that applications for jobless insurance payments for the week that ended March 10 slipped by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000.
That’s the fewest applications since March 2008 — not counting the week in February that saw a similar slump in claims.
New York and California saw the most significant bumps in initial claims, with 16,478 and 4,320 new applications, respectively.
The four-week moving average, which is considered more stable than the weekly numbers, remained unchanged from the previous week’s 355,750.
The numbers are the latest in a promising series of data, which recently showed increased employment in the manufacturing sector and a stable 8.3 percent unemployment rate — the lowest in three years.
But the wraith of high gas prices and inflation is still hovering over the recovery. Another Labor Department report found that spiking energy costs helped spur U.S. wholesale prices in February to their largest jump in five months.
The agency’s Producer Price Index for finished goods was up 0.4 percent last month from a 0.1 percent increase in January and a 0.1 percent decline in December. The rising price of fuel affects manufacturers’ margins by making production more expensive.
Crude prices for poultry, cattle and soybeans were all up; related prices for petroleum soared 5.4 percent. According to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, the average gallon of regular gas now costs $3.82, up more than 30 cents from a month ago.
