U.S. Initial Jobless Claims have fallen.

The number of applications by jobless Americans has fallen, as the level of continuing claims has reduced by 10,000 from 3.02 million, the report also revealed that the four-week average increased by 2,500 to 364,000.

Despite the figures released by the Labour Department, companies are still reducing their labour force after the worst housing slump in twenty five years.

It is predicted that the labour market will remain slow although unemployment is unlikely to drop further than the current rate.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits remained constant at 2.3 percent.

Initial jobless claims have averaged 353,300 so far this year which compares favourably to the 2007 figure of 321,000 at a point in time when the US economy created 91,000 new jobs every month.

April declines were for a fourth straight month, with 20,000 jobs lost which indicates that although the labour market is weak, it is not as weak as the outgoing economic slowdown.

Overall, twenty-one states and territories reported an increase in new claims, while 32 had a decrease.

The biggest reductions during the past week reported by Texas with fall of 2,373 claims, Rhode Island fell by 1,835, and California with 1,689 fewer claims.

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