LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Tax increases due to take place in the near future coupled with government spending cuts slated to take effect in 2013 -- should lawmakers fail to act, may block any uptick in hiring following last month's smaller-than-projected gain in payrolls.

The Federal Reserve began a third round of asset purchases last week in a bid to reduce joblessness that has held above eight percent for more than three years.

"The problems are more on the hiring side than the layoffs side," Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics Inc. says. Sweet has projected a rise to 385,000 claims. "If they panic and start cutting workers, which would raise an immediate red flag because layoffs would be a recipe for another recession."

Stock-index futures held earlier losses after the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index maturing in December fell 0.4 percent to 1,446.8 in New York. Economic data from China to Japan and Europe increased concern a global slowdown is growing even direr.

Bloomberg estimates range from 360,000 to 390,000. The Labor Department revised the previous week's figure to 385,000 from an initially reported 382,000.

However, a Labor Department spokesman said there was nothing unusual in the state data last week, noting that states and territories that reported an increase in claims as a result of Tropical Storm Isaac two weeks ago, including Louisiana and Puerto Rico, didn't indicate the weather had any influence last week.

There is also no indication that the teachers strike in Illinois had any influence.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, climbed to 377,750 last week from 375,750.

Today's report showed the number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 332,000 in the week ended Sept. 8 to 3.27 million.

It must be noted that the continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

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