WASHINGTON—Government data due out Thursday is expected to show that initial claims filed for unemployment benefits fell last week after surging to the highest level in more than two years in the prior period.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR forecast that claims fell to 386,000 for the week that ended April 5. The Labor Department is scheduled to release the data at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
The department last week said applications for unemployment benefits jumped by 38,000 to 407,000, the highest point since September 2005, following the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Employers also cut 80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years, and the national unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent.
The results were worse than analysts expected, and bolstered concerns of a recession and a sagging job market amid the ongoing housing slump and turmoil in the credit and financial markets. The government's four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, last week grew by 15,750 to 374,500.
Several companies announced job cuts this week:
-- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said it will cut more than 1,600 jobs, or roughly 10 percent of its work force, starting later this month and wrapping up by September. The layoffs were expected as the slumping chip maker deals with product delays and heavy acquisition costs.
-- The Seattle Times Co. said it will cut about 200 jobs due to declining revenue. About one-third of the cuts will come from not filling existing vacancies, with the rest through layoffs and voluntary separations.
