Jobless Claims Drop Again
The U.S. labor market is edging forward, with fresh data suggesting October's modest job gains are continuing into November, amid a tenuous economic recovery that faces significant risks.</br></br>The number of Americans filing for new jobless claims slipped by 5,000 last week to 388,000, the third consecutive week of declines, the Labor Department said Thursday.</br></br>The report doesn't say whether companies are stepping up hiring, but it indicates that they are at least slowing the pace of layoffs. That is an important development that could help chip away at the unemployment rate, which ticked down to 9% in this month's report from 9.1% a month earlier.</br></br>Business executives still express uncertainty about the scope and pace of the recovery and say they will hold off on hiring or hire selectively until they see faster growth. But the labor market's recent gains hint at improved confidence.</br></br>Some companies are hiring to respond to increased demand from consumers, who have stepped up spending in recent months in part by dipping into savings.