The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in 17 months, the government reported Thursday, suggesting the economy may be about to start creating jobs. Jobless claims fell 22,000 to 432,000 last week, the Labor Department announced. Analysts had expected claims to rise slightly. The four-week moving average, which smoothes weekly fluctuations, fell by 5,500 to 460,250, the lowest level since late September 2008, around the time when the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked a global financial-market panic and intensified the recession. The number of Americans still receiving unemployment benefits fell to 4.98 million last week from 5.03 million, the report said. New jobless claims have fallen steadily since the autumn, raising hopes that the economy may soon begin creating jobs and the unemployment rate (currently at a quarter-century high) may drop. That would give households more money to spend and spark the broader economic rebound that started earlier this year. The U.S. labor market has shown some signs of healing after two years of heavy job losses. Some economists believe December was the first month in two years in which there were more jobs created than lost. The government's report on December employment is scheduled for the end of next week.
