The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell by 9,000 to 267,000, keeping initial claims near the lowest level in decades. The data was better than the analyst consensus estimate for 270,000 new claims, according to Thomson Reuters.
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This marked 57 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000 – the longest streak since 1973.
Layoffs in the US are the lowest in years. U.S. stocks were trading lower, tracking falling oil prices, while U.S. Treasury debt prices rose.
While jobless claims for Louisiana were estimated last week, there was nothing unusual in the figures, the Labor Department said. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has argued that hidden labour market slack was restraining wage growth.
The four-week average, which increased 3,500 to 266,750, is trending only slightly higher compared to three weeks of 259,000 levels earlier in March.
“The labor market is on a solid footing”.
“Employers are not only retaining workers but also looking to hire more”, Jacob Oubina, a senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in NY, who correctly projected claims, told Bloomberg.
The economy added 215,000 jobs in March and averaged 209,000 a month for the January-March quarter, edging closer to full employment, which is expected this summer.
The unexpected uptick by the unemployment rate came as more people entered the workforce, as the labor force jumped by 396,000 people while household employment increased by 246,000 people.
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“The fears of world economic growth (slowing) are not causing a concern for business owners here in the USA with all the help wanted signs up in the windows”, said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Union Bank in NY.
