New jobless claims last week fell much more sharply than expected, a reassuring sign that the damaging effects from Hurricane Sandy to the labor market have largely passed.
The Labor Department said Thursday that 370,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ended Saturday, down from a revised 395,000 in the prior week. The latest claims number was just about the weekly average for the 10 weeks prior to the storms.
The Labor Department today will issue its jobs report for November, and that is expected to reflect the disruption to commerce and temporary loss of work after the storm knocked out power and caused severe damage in the Northeast, particularly New York and New Jersey.
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