The U.S. labor market continues to show steady improvement, with jobless claims falling to near 5-year lows last week and private-sector hiring continuing at a solid rate in August, although planned layoffs jumped to their highest level in six months, three reports showed Thursday. The U.S. Labor Department said the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since early 2008, while the four-week moving average of jobless claims dropped to a pre-recession level. Jobless claims fell by 9,000 last week to 323,000. The four-week average, considered a better measure of labor-market trends because it smoothes weekly volatility, fell 3,000 to 328,250, its lowest level since October 2007. Jobless claims, which are a measure of layoffs, have fallen 5 percent in the past two months, raising hopes that hiring could accelerate. Meanwhile, U.S. private employers added 176,000 jobs in August, fewer than in the two previous months but nearly matching economist expectations, payrolls processor ADP reported Thursday. ADP said professional and business-services firms added 50,000 jobs, manufacturers 5,000, and construction companies 4,000. In a third report, the number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms jumped in August to their highest in six months, with industrial-goods manufacturers the hardest hit due to falling global demand for mining equipment, consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday. Employers announced nearly 50,500 layoffs last month, up almost 34 percent from about 37,750 in July, the report said. The August layoffs were up 57 percent from the same month a year ago. So far this year, employers have announced 347,000 job cuts, close to the 352,000 seen in the first eight months of 2012. The three reports came one day ahead of the key U.S. payrolls report, which is forecast to show the economy added 180,000 net jobs in August, keeping the unemployment rate flat at 7.4 percent.
