On Thursday the Labor Department stated the number of people applying for jobless benefits fell from 475,000 in the previous week to 452,000 last week. Even with the 23,000 drop, it’s an indication unemployment was still at a high, and the figure still too high to reverse a major increase in the previous week.

This drop came after the revision of the previous week’s figures which depicted a 26,000 rise, nearly double the increase the department reported initially.

Applications have been stagnant at the 450,000 level for most of the year, showing the unemployment figures were still elevated. The revision of the figures by the department came about after several states expressed their estimations were higher than expected in the previous 2 weeks.

The chief U.S economist at High Frequency Economics, Ian Shepherdson, stated the chances of seeing any sustained improvement in the private sector payroll figures was minimal.

The four week average dropped by 4,250 to 458,000, which was higher than the figure for the past 2 weeks.

In September the figure stood at 9.6% in comparison to 9.7% in January, indicating that the slow economic growth wasn’t enough to lower the unemployment rate or lead to a reduction of unemployment claims.

These changes are not expected any time soon, Economists predict.

Jobless claims fell progressively in June 2009 after the end of the recession, dropping from an estimated 600,000 to an approximate 470,000. This year, there has not been much progress and economists claim it should fall below 425,000 to indicate that employers are increasing the rate of hiring.

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