Initial Jobless Claims Drop for Week

Initial jobless claims decreased by 30,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims decreased to 339,000 for the week ended Saturday, the fewest since Feb. 2008, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecasts of 370,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, fell to 364,000 last week from 375,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Sept. 22 dropped by 15,000 to 3.27 million.

Labor initially reported the prior week’s jobless claims as 369,000.

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Initial Jobless Claims Rise for Week

Initial jobless claims increased by 4,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims increased to 367,000 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecasts of 370,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, was unchanged at 374,000 last week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Sept. 22 was unchanged at 3.28 million.

Labor initially reported the prior week’s jobless claims at 359,000.

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Initial Jobless Claims Unchanged

Initial jobless claims were little changed at 374,000 in the week ending Aug. 25, matching the prior week’s revised figure, the Labor Department said Thursday. 

Economists had called for a drop to 370,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure climbed to a six week high of 370,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 368,750.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Aug.18 declined by 5,000, to 3.32 million.

The Labor Department revised last week’s figure from an initially reported 372,000.

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Initial Jobless Claims Rise

Initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims climbed to 366,000 for the week ended Saturday, economists had called for an increase to 365,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, dropped to 363,750, from 368,250.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Aug. 4 declined by 31,000, to 3.31 million.

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Initial Jobless Claims Fall by 14,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The decline to 374,000 claims was below economists’ forecasts of 385,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 385,750, Labor said.

The number of people receiving continuous jobless benefits rose 5,000 to 3.31 million for the previous week ended June 23.

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Save now, pay us later: FCCC, Enova to offer electric vehicles with no initial up-charge

GAFFNEY, S.C. - Fleets looking to deploy environmentally-friendly electric delivery vehicles in their fleet can now do so without the substantial up-front cost, thanks to a new program from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) and Enova.

The Green for Free program, announced today, allows fleets in Canada and the US to purchase electric vehicles for the same price as similar diesel-powered vehicles. The fleet can then use the fuel and maintenance savings achieved over time to cover the incremental expense for the technology, the companies announced.

The program covers FCCC's all-electric walk-in van chassis powered by Enova's electric drive system. The companies say delivery fleets with set routes will be ideal candidates for the program, since they have predictable drive routes and return home each night for charging.

FCCC says it's ready to provide immediate volume, which will help drive down the costs of components such as batteries. The delivery vehicles will be deployed into "disciplined duty cycles" where they will utilize 80% of the battery daily, FCCC says. The chassis has a GVWR of 14,000-19,500 lbs.

"FCCC and Enova recognize that the Green For Free program is necessary in order to make all-electric vehicles more affordable, and therefore more accessible, to fleets," said Bob Harbin, FCCC president. "We want to help those fleets interested in reducing their energy consumption and environmental impact by enabling them to purchase more alternative-fuel vehicles at one time because of the reduced upfront costs."

The companies are touting the Green for Free program as the first that will eliminate the incremental costs associated with buying and operating all-electric vehicles, aside from those funded by government.

The companies plan to deploy 3,000 alternative fueled vehicles within a two-year period beginning no later than the third quarter of 2012 as part of the program.

"This business model has the potential to stimulate tremendous and rapid growth, helping achieve economies of scale through cost reduction, resulting in an excellent value proposition for the commercial fleet operator," said Mike Staran, Enova president and CEO. "Enova has been delivering proven electric drive systems to a diverse set of domestic and international customers and has the distinction of seeing more of its green drive systems on the road than any of its competitors. The company continues to build on more than 20 years of innovation and traces its roots back to General Motors' EV1 electric car."

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