US jobless applications rise, but levels point to job growth

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications rose 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 278,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 6,500 to 292,750. That average has plunged 15 percent over the past 12 months.

"The trend still shows improving labor market behavior," said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

The weekly increase comes after applications plummeted 42,000 in the prior week to 267,000. There has been volatility in recent reports due to the end of the holiday shopping season and the recent Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, when state unemployment offices were closed. The government tries to adjust for such seasonal patterns, but isn't always able to do so perfectly.

Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. The decline indicates that companies are keeping their workers and potentially looking to hire on the expectation that the economy will continue growing.

The Friday employment report is expected to show that employers added 230,000 jobs in January, according to a survey by the data firm FactSet.

Nearly 3 million new jobs were created in 2014, as the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 6.7 percent.

But the increased demand for workers has yet to boost incomes by much. Average wages rose just 1.7 percent in 2014, essentially in line with inflation. Wage growth of 3.5 percent is consistent with a healthy economy.