WASHINGTON (AP) _ The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for jobless benefits dropped last week, and the number of people remaining on the rolls also fell, evidence that layoffs have eased.
Still, both figures remain above levels associated with a healthy economy, and analysts expect the unemployment rate to keep rising.
Ohio had one of the largest declines in new claims, down by 1,918 because of fewer auto industry layoffs.
The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time unemployment claims fell nationwide to a seasonally-adjusted 570,000, down from an upwardly revised figure of 580,000 the previous week. Analysts expected a slightly larger drop to 565,000, according to Thomson Reuters.
The tally of those continuing to claim benefits dropped to 6.13 million from 6.25 million in the previous week, the lowest level since early April. The figures on continuing claims lag initial claims by a week.
Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a gauge of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new workers.
While the figures are volatile, first-time claims have trended downward in recent months. Initial claims topped 600,000 for most of this year, until falling below that level in early July.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, fell by 4,750 to 566,250 last week. That’s about 90,000 below its peak for the current recession, in early April.
The weekly figures remain far above the roughly 325,000 that analysts say is consistent with a healthy economy. New claims last fell below 300,000 in early 2007.
Job losses have slowed recently. The department said earlier this month that companies cut 247,000 jobs in July, a large amount but still the smallest number in almost a year.
The unemployment rate dipped to 9.4 percent in July from 9.5 percent, its first drop in 15 months. But Obama economic adviser Christina Romer predicted Tuesday that unemployment could reach 10 percent this year and average 9.8 percent next year.
The recession, which began in December 2007 and is the worst since World War II, has eliminated a net total of 6.7 million jobs.
And when federal emergency programs are included, the total number of jobless benefit recipients was 9.19 million people in the week that ended Aug. 8. That was up from 9.18 million in the previous week. Congress has added up to 53 extra weeks of benefits on top of the 26 typically provided by the states.
The large number of people remaining on the rolls is an indication that unemployed workers are having a hard time finding new jobs.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ With bank failures rising, the government’s deposit insurance fund fell 20 percent to $10.4 billion in the second quarter as U.S. banks lost $3.7 billion.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Thursday that surging levels of soured loans at banks dragged down profits in the April-June period. The $3.7 billion loss compared with profits of $7.6 billion in the first quarter, and $4.7 billion a year ago.
The FDIC also said the number of banks deemed to be in trouble jumped to 416 from 305 at the end of the first quarter. That’s the highest number since June 1994 during the savings and loan crisis. Total assets of troubled institutions surged to $299.8 billion from $220 billion in the first quarter.
Eighty-one banks have failed so far this year, and hundreds more are expected to fall in coming years because of souring loans for commercial real estate. That threatens to deplete the FDIC’s fund, which guarantees deposits of up to $250,000 per account. The new level of the insurance fund puts the ratio at 0.22 percent, compared with the congressionally mandated minimum of 1.15 percent.
The FDIC said nearly 66 percent of banks and savings and loans reported earnings below those in the second quarter of 2008, and more than a quarter posted a net loss.

NEW YORK (AP) - US Airways said Wednesday it is bumping up its fees for first and second checked bags by $5 each, and is tacking on an additional fee for a second checked bag on trans-Atlantic flights.
The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline it will charge $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second, when bags are checked online. The current charge is $15 for a first checked bag and $25 for a second checked bag when checked online.
Passengers will also pay an extra $5 per bag checked in at the airport. The current bag fees at the airport are $20 for the first and $30 for the second.
US Airways Group Inc. is also matching a $50 second checked bag fee on its trans-Atlantic flights, a charge recently introduced by American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. The new trans-Atlantic second bag fee will apply to all European destinations served by the airline.
The US Airways fee changes are effective starting Wednesday for travel on or after Oct. 7.

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday he would support changing state law to allow him to appoint an interim successor to Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat while a special election is held.
Unlike most states, a successor to a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts is chosen by special election, not appointed by the governor.
In a recent letter to lawmakers, Kennedy, who died Tuesday night, said the law should be changed to allow the governor to appoint someone to serve in the Senate during the course of the election - provided that person pledge not to run for the seat.
In radio interviews Wednesday morning, Patrick called the idea “entirely reasonable” and told WBUR-FM that he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Six companies are recalling millions of window blinds and shades, following the deaths of three children who got caught in cords that move the coverings up and down.
The recalls were announced Wednesday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The three deaths involved blinds or shades made or imported by Vertical Land Inc. in Florida and Lewis Hyman Inc. in California.
In one case, a one-year-old was killed when he became entangled and strangled in the lift cord loop of a roll-up blind that had fallen into his portable crib.
Pottery Barn Kids and IKEA are also recalling window shades and blinds, but no deaths were associated with those companies. The CPSC says there have been six reports of children becoming entangled in the inner cord of the Pottery Barn Kids shades.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to avoid certain vials of insulin made by Novo Nordisk that were stolen earlier this year and may not be safe for use.
The agency warns that the vials may not have been stored properly and could be dangerous to consumers. The FDA has received multiple reports of patients who suffered unsafe blood sugar levels after using the products.
The FDA issued an alert in June that three lots of Novo Nordisk’s Levemir insulin were stolen in North Carolina. Regulators say only about 2 percent of the 190,000 vials have been returned.
Regulators advised patients not to use Levemir insulin from lots: XZF0036, XZF0037, XZF0038.
The FDA says it continues to investigate the theft.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston before his funeral at a city church, a Democratic source familiar with the planning told The Associated Press. Kennedy is to be buried afterward at Arlington National Cemetery near his slain brothers, said another official knowledgeable about the arrangements.
Exact times and dates are still being determined by the Kennedy family, said the Democratic source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because details had not been publicly announced.
Kennedy’s funeral Mass will take place at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica - commonly known as the Mission Church - in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston. The cavernous basilica on Tremont Street, built in the 1870s, was where Kennedy prayed daily while his daughter, Kara, successfully battled her own cancer.
Kennedy died late Tuesday after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was 77.

MIAMI (AP) - Tropical Storm Danny has formed in the open Atlantic off the Bahamas.
Forecasters say the storm has top winds of 45 mph and is moving to the west-northwest at 18 mph. The storm could get stronger in the next two days.
As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the storm’s center was about 445 miles east of Nassau, Bahamas and about 775 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
The current forecast has the storm on a path to clip the U.S. East Coast over the weekend, but a storm’s track can be difficult to predict days in advance. People in the Bahamas and the southeastern U.S. were advised to monitor the storm.
Meanwhile, far out in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Ignacio has weakened as it moves northwest with top winds of 45 mph.

Unlike in most states, a successor to fill Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat in the Senate will be chosen through a special election, not by the governor.
Massachusetts law requires a special election for the seat no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after a vacancy occurs. The law bans an interim appointee.
The law was changed in 2004, when Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., became his party’s presidential nominee and Republican Mitt Romney was the state’s governor. Before the change, the governor would have appointed a replacement to serve until the next general election.
That would have created the opportunity for Romney to install a fellow Republican in office, a move that Democrats who control the state legislature sought to prevent.

WASHINGTON (AP) - New U.S. home sales surged 9.6 percent in July, rising for the fourth straight month and beating expectations as the housing market marches steadily back from its historic downturn.
The Commerce Department says sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 from an upwardly revised June rate of 395,000.
It was the strongest sales pace since September and exceeded the forecasts of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who expected a pace of 390,000 units. The last time sales rose so dramatically was in February 2005.
The median sales price of $210,100, however, was still down 11.5 percent from $237,300 a year earlier.