By Shobhana Chandra Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell unexpectedly last week, a sign the labor market is deteriorating at a slower pace as the economy pulls out of the recession. Applications dropped by 12,000 to 545,000 in the week ended Sept. 12, from a revised 557,000 the week before, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. The total number of people collecting unemployment insurance rose the prior week. The job market may be starting to stabilize as government and private reports reinforce forecasts that economic growth will resume this quarter. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg this month said the unemployment rate will reach 10 percent this year, a reminder that hiring may not pick up for several months and that consumers likely won’t lead the recovery. “Clearly, firms have pulled back on the firings,” Tom Porcelli, a senior economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York, said before the report. Even so, “it’s going to be difficult to generate meaningful growth in consumer spending without gains in hiring.” Economists forecast weekly claims would rise to 557,000 from a previously reported 550,000, according to the median of 34 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 530,000 to 580,000. Adjustments resulting from the Labor Day holiday may have influenced the larger-than-anticipated drop, a Labor Department analyst and economists said. The report showed the four-week moving average of initial applications, a less volatile measure, fell to 563,000 last week from 571,750. Benefit Rolls Continuing claims rose by 129,000 in the week ended Sept. 5, to 6.23 million, the report showed. They were forecast to rise to 6.1 million. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, increased to 4.7 percent in the week ended Sept. 5, from 4.6 percent the prior week. Thirty-six states and territories reported an increase in claims, while 17 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. Today’s report encompasses claims from the survey week for the September non-farm payrolls report, which the Labor Department is scheduled to release on Oct. 2. ‘Bottoming Out’ The economy has lost 6.9 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007, the most of any downturn since the Great Depression. The 216,000 drop in payrolls reported for August, meanwhile, was the smallest in a year and lower than economists projected. President Barack Obama this week said job losses in the U.S. are “bottoming out,” and pointed to gains in exports and manufacturing as signs the economy is expanding again. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said two days ago that the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s has probably ended, while warning that “unemployment will be slow to come down” if growth turns out to be “moderate.” Businesses announcing staff reductions this week included Hartsville, South Carolina-based Sonoco Products Co. The world’s largest maker of paperboard packaging said it will cut about 50 jobs as it consolidates units. Sonoco “remains vulnerable to the fragile global economy and the impact the lingering recession is having on consumers and our customers,” Chief Executive Officer Harris E. DeLoach Jr. said in a statement.

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