
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, December 10, 1993                   TAG: 9312100158
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

JOBLESS CLAIMS CLIMB AGAIN

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose 13,000 last week, the government said Thursday in a report underscoring the job market's uneven progress.

The Labor Department said 335,000 people filed applications for benefits during the week ended Dec. 4. The previous week, claims dropped 17,000, in part because Thanksgiving left the unemployed with fewer days to file.

A four-week moving average of claims fell 5,750 to 333,500, an eight-week low. Analysts consider this measure a better indication of labor trends than the volatile weekly number.

Since the start of October, this average has fluctuated in a relatively narrow range between 330,000 and 350,000.

Economists think the job market is improving, if unevenly, despite the recent trend in claims and the continuation of layoffs by big companies, such as Xerox Corp., which announced plans Wednesday to shed 10,000 employees.

- Associated Press

by CNB