Applications for US jobless claims rose more than expected last week, but however, the number of US citizens registered as unemployed fell to their lowest level since 1973. The Labor Department declared on Thursday that initial jobless claims rose by 11,000, reaching a total of 222,000 for week ending May 12. Market experts had expected the number of claims to rise to 215,000 last week.<\/p>\n
The labor market is now seen as close or in full employment, with unemployment near its lowest level at 3.9% and close to the Fed’s expectations of 3.8% by the end of this year. The Labor Department said claims procedures in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands had not returned to normal after hurricanes Erma and Maria destroyed the territories last year.<\/p>\n
The four-week moving average for initial claims, which is seen as a better measure of labor market trends as it fluctuates from week to week, fell 2,750, to 213,250 last week, the lowest level since December 1969.<\/p>\n
The four week average of claims dropped to 18,250 between April and May, indicating strong job growth. Non-farm payrolls rose by 164,000 jobs in April after rising by 135,000 in the previous month. In March, there were recorded a total of 6.6 million unfilled jobs, according to government data released last week.<\/p>\n
The claims report also showed that the number of people receiving benefits after a week of assistance fell by 87,000 to 1.71 million in the week ending May 5, the lowest level since December 1973. The four-week moving average for so-called continuing claims fell by 39,750 to 1.77 Million, also reaching a record low since the same period.<\/p>\n
The decline in continuing claims underscores the tightening of labor market conditions supporting economists’ expectations that wage growth will accelerate towards the second half of this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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