How to understand "an administrative backlog subsided"

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fl - 11 Feb 2010 14:25 GMT

Hi,
Although I know the words of the first paragraph, see below, I do not
understand the meaning of "an administrative backlog subsided". This
phrase is about the labor statistics administrative? Or, it is about
the employer side? Please give me some explanation ? Thanks a lot.

....
Jobless Claims in U.S. Decrease More Than Anticipated (Update2)
By Courtney Schlisserman

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Fewer Americans than anticipated filed claims
for unemployment insurance last week as an administrative backlog
subsided and indicating companies are nearing the end of major staff
cuts as the economy recovers.

Initial jobless applications declined by 43,000 to 440,000 in the week
ended Feb. 6, the lowest level in five weeks, from 483,000 the prior
week, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The total
number of people receiving unemployment insurance and those receiving
extended benefits decreased.

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tony cooper - 11 Feb 2010 14:34 GMT

>Hi,
>Although I know the words of the first paragraph, see below, I do not
>understand the meaning of "an administrative backlog subsided". This
>phrase is about the labor statistics administrative? Or, it is about
>the employer side? Please give me some explanation ? Thanks a lot.

The government agency (the "administrative" reference) that handles
the claims was slow in processing the claims, so there were
unprocessed claims (the backlog). The agency started to catch up in
the processing function and the number of unprocessed claims got
smaller.

Signature

Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

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Cheryl - 11 Feb 2010 14:34 GMT

> Hi,
> Although I know the words of the first paragraph, see below, I do not
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> number of people receiving unemployment insurance and those receiving
> extended benefits decreased.

It sounds to me like there was a backlog of applications in the offices
administering unemployment insurance. This backlog, probably caused by
the companies laying off large numbers of people, is now cleared or
reduced ('subsided' usually implies reduced). New applications ('initial
jobless applications' are fewer in number than expected.

---

Cheryl

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010

How to understand "an administrative backlog subsided"