U.S. jobless claims fall 41,000 as Sandy effect subsides

— Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as damage to the labor market caused by superstorm Sandy began to subside.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that first-time applications for benefits fell by 41,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 410,000. That offset only part of the previous week’s surge.

Two weeks ago, the storm drove applications up by 90,000 to 451,000, an 18-month high.

The number of applications matched the median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The level of claims reflects the economic drag associated with Sandy, which made landfall in the Northeast on Oct. 29, killing more than 100 in the U.S. and leaving about 8 million homes and businesses without power for days.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

Information for this article was contributed by Bloomberg News and The Associated Press.

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