Search Share Prices
US initial jobless claims decline
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
US initial jobless claims declined 7,000 to 222,000 from the previous week's level, which was revised down by 1,000. This marked a near-45 year low and was ahead of economists's expectations for claims of 230,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average was down 2,250 to 226,000 from the previous week's average, which was revised down by 250.
The four-week average is considered more reliable as it smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly figures, giving a more accurate picture of the health of the labour market.
The Labor Department said claims-taking procedures in Puerto Rico and in the Virgin Islands have still not returned to normal.
Continuing claims - i.e. the number of people already collecting unemployment benefits - fell by 73,000 to 1.88 million. The previous week's level was revised up by 6,000 to 1.9m. The four-week moving average of continuing claims was down 16,250 to 1.9m.
Dennis de Jong, managing director at UFX.com, said: "Claims haven't remained this low for this long since the 1970s when the US labour market was much smaller, and the decrease in continuing claims would indicate that more jobs have been created within the ever-tightening labour market.
"The market is close to full employment, with unemployment levels at a 17-year low of 4.1%, and the tightening suggests that expectations of faster wage growth this year could yet materialise."
Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "We expected a clear drop in claims this week because the seasonal factor looked unusually generous. Next week's number should be similar, for the same reason. Note, though, that the risk of a significant revision to today's print is quite high, because six states and Puerto Rico estimated their numbers; that's unusual.
"The trend in claims appears to have fallen to a new low, around 230K or perhaps even lower, consistent with the the increasing difficulty employers report in finding staff. That has raised the bar for layoffs, a situation which is unlikely to change anytime soon."