By Courtney Schlisserman Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than a year, a sign companies are holding on to workers as the economic recovery unfolds. Initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to 457,000 in the week ended Nov. 28, the fewest since September 2008, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance rose in the prior week, and those getting additional payments jumped as some states started reporting figures on the government’s latest extension. Companies are less likely to fire workers as the economy emerges from the worst recession since the 1930s. They’re also reluctant to add to payrolls, government data may show tomorrow. Employers shed another 125,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate held at a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, economists forecast the Labor Department to report. “Claims are on a steady downward trend,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. economists Michael Feroli and Abiel Reinhart in New York said in a note to clients before the report. “Sustained declines are a sign of reasonably strong growth.” Economists forecast claims would rise to 480,000 from the 466,000 previously reported for the prior week, according to the median of 41 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 450,000 to 500,000. Holiday-Shortened Week Because of the Thanksgiving holiday-shortened week, the Labor Department projected claims would drop. The decrease in unadjusted data was even larger then predicted, leading to the drop in the adjusted figures, a Labor Department spokesman said. The holiday season is traditionally a volatile time for claims, the spokesman said, and the government projects this week will show the largest jump in unadjusted claims for any week of the year. The productivity of U.S. workers increased in the third quarter at the fastest pace in six years as companies squeezed more out of remaining staff to fuel profits, another Labor Department report showed. Productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, rose at an 8.1 percent annual rate. Labor costs fell at a 2.5 percent pace. Today’s report showed the four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 481,250 last week from 495,500 the prior week. Continuing claims rose by 28,000 in the week ended Nov. 21 to 5.47 million. Extended Benefits The continuing claims figure does 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 jumped by 323,000 to 4.46 million in the week ended Nov. 14. Seven states began reporting figures on workers receiving the government’s latest 13-week extension in benefits, the Labor Department spokesman said. Workers in 50 of 53 states and territories are eligible to receive the extension and it will take time for the remaining states to begin reporting, he said. The unemployment rate among people eligible for jobless benefits held at 4.1 percent in the week ended Nov. 21. While this measure historically has tended to track the jobless rate, the correlation has broken down this year as more people receive extended payments. A government report tomorrow may show the U.S. lost the fewest jobs in more than year, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Claims, Payrolls Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings. They have risen as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report -- has been negative since January 2008. Forty-six states and territories reported an increase in claims for the week ended Nov. 21, while seven had a decrease, today’s report showed. Cummins Inc., the largest maker of heavy-duty diesel truck engines in North America, said yesterday it plans to temporarily cut about 400 jobs at its Jamestown, New York, plant starting in January. Most of the workers will take voluntary temporary leaves under which they keep health-care benefits, company spokesman Mark Land said. Blackrock Inc., the asset manager that this week completed its acquisition of Barclays Global Investors, eliminated 89 jobs in San Francisco, according to a filing with the California Employment Development Department. To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at cschlisserma@bloomberg.net

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