Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, while a less volatile average rose to the highest in almost 26 years, signaling jobs remain scarce as the economy weakens.

Initial jobless claims declined by 14,000 to 529,000 in the week that ended Nov. 22, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The four-week moving average of initial claims rose to 518,000, the highest since January 1983, from 507,000.

The weakening labor market has taken another leg down as the most severe credit crunch since the Great Depression accelerated job cuts at banks, manufacturers and service companies. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast job losses rose in November, bringing the total for the year to almost 1.5 million.

``Layoffs will accelerate,'' Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. ``Businesses have responded to restricted credit availability and a deepening recession by cutting costs and jobs.''

Commerce Department reports today showed consumer spending slid 1 percent in October, the most since the economy was last in a recession in 2001, and orders for durable goods plunged twice as much as economists had forecast.

Treasuries, Stocks

Treasuries, which rose earlier in the day, stayed higher after today's reports. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes fell to 3.09 percent at 8:55 a.m. in New York, from 3.12 percent late yesterday. Futures contracts on the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index dropped 1.7 percent to 838.90.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had anticipated 535,000 initial claims, based on the median of 37 projections, after 542,000 originally reported for the prior week. Estimates ranged from 490,000 to 550,000 initial claims.

The number of people staying on benefit rolls dropped in the week ended Nov. 15 to 3.962 million from 4.016 million, which was the highest since December 1982.

So far this year, weekly claims have averaged 406,300 compared with an average of 321,000 for all of 2007, when employers added a total of 1.1 million jobs.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, held at 3 percent. Twenty- one states and territories reported an increase in new claims, while 32 reported a decrease. These data are reported with a one- week lag.

Job Losses

The economy lost 300,000 jobs in November, economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the Labor Department will report on Dec. 5, bringing total losses this year to almost 1.5 million. The unemployment rate probably rose in November to 6.8 percent, the highest since 1993, from 6.5 percent the prior month.

President-elect Barack Obama warned this week that ``millions of jobs'' could be lost next year should the government fail to quickly implement a fiscal stimulus plan. He has announced he is working on a strategy to save or create 2.5 million jobs within two years.

Companies are trimming staff as the economy is forecast to contract through at least March, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg early this month, after shrinking at a 0.5 percent pace in the third quarter.

Chicago-based Boeing Co. may cut more than 5 percent of its 164,000 workforce next year, through attrition and layoffs, to help offset expenses from aircraft program delays and to brace for possible order cancellations, Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney told employees last week.

``We believe it's important to take these kinds of actions to protect our competitiveness'' amid ``significant challenges the company's facing in 2009,'' spokesman John Dern said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Willis in Washington at bwillis@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 26, 2008 09:00 EST