By Shobhana Chandra Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The average number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits over the past four weeks dropped to a one-year low, indicating companies are gaining confidence as the economy recovers. The four-week moving average of initial claims declined to 473,750 last week from 481,500, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Initial jobless claims, which are more volatile, unexpectedly rose by 17,000 to 474,000 in the week ended Dec. 5. The loss of 7.2 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007 and steadying demand means companies are less inclined to make bigger staff cuts. The improvement in the four- week figure signals prospects of job creation that will help drive consumer spending and boost economic growth. “The recovery is there in the labor market,” John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, said before the report. “By March or April we could start to see some job gains.” A separate report showed the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in October, Commerce Department figures showed. The gap shrank 7.6 percent to $32.9 billion, smaller than the $36.8 billion economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Jobless claims were estimated to drop to 455,000 from 457,000 for the prior week, according to the median forecast of 45 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 380,000 to 490,000. Lowest Since 2008 The four-week average of claims was the lowest since 470,250 in the week ended Sept. 27, 2008. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell 303,000 in the prior week to 5.16 million, while those getting extended payments increased. Continuing claims, which were forecast to drop to 5.45 million, do not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs. Today’s report showed the number of people who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting extended payments rose by 137,496 to 4.59 million in the week ended Nov. 21. Workers in 50 of 53 states and territories are eligible to receive the government’s latest 13-week extension and not all are reporting the data yet. Seven additional states began reporting the figures, bringing the total to 14. President Barack Obama in November signed into law a plan to extend jobless benefits, including measures that give unemployed people as many as 20 additional weeks of assistance. Unemployment Rate The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, fell to 3.9 percent in the week ended Nov. 28, from 4.1 percent the prior week, today’s report showed. Twelve states and territories reported an increase in claims, while 41 reported a decrease. These data are reported with a one-week lag. Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to rise as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report -- slows. The economy has experienced the worst employment slide in the post-World War II era. Firings are easing, Labor Department figures showed last week. Payrolls declined by 11,000 in November, the smallest drop since the start of the recession, and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent from a 26-year high of 10.2 percent. Obama this week called for new spending on infrastructure, tax credits for small businesses, and incentives to make homes more energy efficient as part of a second round of job-creation initiatives. He proposed “mobilizing” remaining money in the financial-system bailout fund to ease lending to small firms. New Initiatives “Given the challenge of accelerating the pace of hiring in the private sector, these targeted initiatives are right and they are needed,” Obama said in a Dec. 8 speech at the Brookings Institution, a research organization in Washington. Companies trimming staff include Assurant Inc., the New York-based provider of homeowner and health insurance, which cut about 280 jobs, or less than 2 percent of its total workforce. The company expects annual savings of $15 million from the move, Chief Executive Officer Robert Pollock said. “The restructuring is necessary, but painful,” Pollock said at a conference on Dec. 8. To contact the reporters on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington schandra1@bloomberg.net

Source