To economists the term is labor market churn. To workers, it means layoffs. And layoffs arising from the latest round of corporate restructuring appear to be showing up in U.S. data on unemployment insurance claims.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 327,000 last week, 17,000 higher than the previous week's unrevised figure of 310,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported on March 10. The department's four-week moving average for claims also increased rising to 312,500 for the week ending March 5, an increase of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 306,750.
The increases were not widely anticipated. Economists generally expected the weekly claims figure to remain at 310,000 and the four-week average to be unchanged.
