Unemployment insurance claims filed in the Valley fell to a low of 12,961 claims, according to figures released by the California Employment Development Department and assembled by the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at Cal State Northridge.

"Changes in the number of UI claims are generally indicative of changes in unemployment," said Daniel Blake, director of CSUN's San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center. He added that "record low claim numbers show that the Valley economy is continuing to expand its job base and absorb people from the unemployment rolls."

The record low October claims number comes on the heels of a rapid downward movement in unemployment insurance claims in the Valley that began in the first quarter of 2004.

In October, the UI claims number fell below the record low set during the Valley's steady economic recovery during the 1995-2000 period. The previous record low UI claims number of 13,526 was achieved in November 2000 after a prolonged economic recovery from the early 1990s recession and before the 2001 recession took hold.

"The rapid drop in claims has been spectacular," Blake said. "In the last seven quarters, the Valley economy has shed as much unemployment as it did during the entire six years of the last recovery."

He added that the low level of unemployment insurance claims indicates the Valley economy is on track to complete 2005 with a job growth rate near the 1.7 percent job growth forecasted by the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center in May.