美國首次申請失業救濟人數再次下降

The number of Americans filing for new unemployment benefits fell again last week, continuing a trend that shows a slowly improving Labor market in the United States. A separate government report showed a steep rise in prices for food and fuel contributing to the biggest gain in the Consumer Price Index since June 2009.

The jobless claims report from the U.S. Labor Department Thursday said the number of applications for unemployment insurance fell for the third time in four weeks - to a seasonally adjusted figure of 385,000. The four-week average of new unemployment claims was the lowest since July 2008, which was early in the recent economic crisis.

The U.S. central bank said earlier in the week that the job market was improving and the economy was on a "firmer footing," although the recovery was continuing slowly.

上個星期首次申請失業救濟的美國人數再次下降，繼續顯示美國勞工市場在緩慢改善的趨勢。另外一份政府報告顯示，食品和燃油價格急劇上漲, 導致消費者價格指數出現自從2009年6月以來的最大增幅。

美國勞工部星期四公佈的失業報告說，首次申請失業救濟的人數四個星期來第三次出現下跌，下降到經過季節調整後的38萬5千人。首次申請失業補助的4個星期平均數是2008年7月經濟危機初期以來的最低水平。

美國中央銀行這個星期早些時候說，美國的就業市場正在改善而且經濟也在一個“更爲穩固的基礎上”，儘管恢復的速度仍然緩慢。