The number of Americans filing initial jobless claims probably increased for the first time in four weeks, boosted in part by joblessness caused by Hurricane Charley, economists forecast in advance of government report today. First-time applications for state unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 last week to 335,000, according to the median estimate of 41 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The Labor Department releases the report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. The hurricane struck Florida on Aug. 13, resulting in 20 deaths and about $7.4 billion in insured losses to businesses and homes. Increases in claims related to the storm are expected to be temporary as jobs are created in coming weeks to rebuild.
Claims ``may pop a little from displaced workers,'' said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. fixed income economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, who expects weekly claims to rise to 340,000. ``I'm looking for a pop of 5,000 to 10,000 claims, but it won't have any bearing on the labor market over time.'' In the week following Hurricane Andrew more than a decade ago, jobless claims rose by 8,000 and were unchanged the following week, Bloomberg data show.
Claims forecasts for last week ranged from 320,000 to 370,000. The disparity stems mainly from the timing of Florida applications. Some economists said people held off filing until this week as they assessed damage done to their personal property. ``Some of these people would have filed jobless claims, but were unable to do so,'' said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics Ltd. ``People returning to find homes and places of work damaged or destroyed will boost claims.''
Employment Report
Claims in the week ended Aug. 14 fell to the lowest since the week of July 2. The four-week moving average fell by 2,500 to 337,000 during the week, ``absolutely consistent with what we've seen at the same point in past (economic) recoveries,'' according to Timothy Rogers, chief economist at Briefing.com in Boston. That was the same week the government conducted surveys for its monthly employment report. Employment in August probably increased 160,000 after a rise of 32,000 in July, according to the median forecast of economists in advance of next week's report. Initial jobless claims have averaged 344,600 a week this year, compared with 402,100 in 2003. That number is usually accompanied by the creation of 150,000 to 200,000 new jobs month. Some businesses, flush with profits amid rising sales, are hiring. James Gillespie, chief executive of Cendant Corp.'s Coldwell Banker Real Estate, said his company has added 8,600 new employees this year in response to strong housing sales. The Parsippany, New Jersey-firm has 114,000 workers, he said in an interview Tuesday. ///www.bloomberg.com