NEW YORK (PNN) - May 3, 2012 - Another round of muddled Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA) data on Thursday did nothing to resolve uncertainty about the short-term health of the economy ahead of crucial numbers on non-farm payrolls due on Friday.

Fewer Amerikans filed for unemployment insurance last week, ending a run of higher numbers that had prompted fretting about a possible “spring slowdown” in the labor market.

Initial jobless claims fell 27,000 to 365,000 in the week ending April 28; the biggest weekly drop in nearly a year, according to the Department of Labor. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated claims would fall to 379,000. Data for the week before were revised higher to 392,000, and the four-week moving average edged up to 383,500.

Much more fundamental to the medium-term prospects of the labor market were separate data, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing that productivity fell at an annualized rate of 0.5%.

Slow productivity growth is bad for living standards over the long run, but if companies are struggling to squeeze more output from their existing workforces, they will be forced to hire more employees in order to expand.

The employment sub-index fell from 56.7 to 54.2. That will add to doubts about Friday’s non-farm payrolls release - which analysts expect to come in at 160,000 following 120,000 in March - because the services sector is the main source of jobs growth.

Thursday’s unemployment insurance figures also showed that the number of continuing claims fell 53,000, to 3.28 million in the week ending April 21, a sharper decline than expected.

The number of people who have expended their traditional benefits and are receiving emergency assistance was 4,772 lower, at 2.72 million in the week ending April 14.