The number of new unemployment applications dropped last week by 37,000 to 335,000. Some analysts are seeing this as a hopeful sign of economic recovery following three weeks of rising new jobless claims which have been attributed, at least in part, to the impact of recent hurricanes in Florida. The September employment report is due to be released by the government on Friday.
See "Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Sharply", Jeannine Aversa, The Washington Post, October 6, 2004