The number of newly unemployed U.S. workers seeking benefits dropped much more than expected last week. The U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits fell to 365,000, a decline of 18,000 from the previous week. Economists had predicted a decline of about 5,000. However, weekly jobless claim rates have been unusually volatile in recent weeks because of strike-related layoffs in the auto industry and calendar quirks for 2008. The U.S. Labor Department reported last week that employers cut jobs for a fourth straight month, often a sign of a recession, but the job loss of 20,000 was much smaller than had been expected and was well below the 81,000 jobs lost in March. Today's report showed that the total number of laid off workers receiving benefits fell slightly to 3.02 million for the week ending April 26 but remained above the 3 million-mark for the second straight week. For the week ending April 26, 32 states and territories had a drop in initial claims while 21 had increases.
