Initial Claims Dip Below 500,000

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- The unemployment picture improved last week, as initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since September 2008.

The Commerce Department on Wednesday said the number of first-time applications for unemployment benefits fell by 35,000 to 466,000 last week. According to estimates from Thomson Reuters, analysts expected initial claims to fall to 500,000 from the previous week's pre-revised 505,000 sum.

The four-week moving average, which tends to smooth out wild swings from week to week, also fell by 16,500 to 496,500, declining for the 12th straight week.

The number of those continuing on jobless rolls also dropped to 5.42 million from 5.61 million the week prior.

"Today's report suggests that the economy is on track to begin adding jobs by January or February," John Canally, economist for LPL Financial, wrote in an email.

Still, many agree that the road to job growth remains bumpy. Economic policymakers at the nation's central bank trimmed their unemployment forecasts, according to minutes of the November Federal Open Market Committee meeting released yesterday. But the group anticipates a weak labor market to persist.

November also brought a fresh string of layoff announcements, as Alcoa(AA Quote), Boeing(BA Quote), Aetna(AET Quote) and Applied Materials(AMAT Quote) each announced job cuts during the period.

The report is helping bolster stocks amid a mix of data today, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 24 points, or 0.2%, to 10,458.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York