US jobless claims hit lowest level in more than 43 years


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in more than 43 years, another sign that most American workers enjoy job security.

THE NUMBERS: The Labor Department said Thursday that 234,000 Americans sought jobless aid, a drop of 15,000 from the previous week and the lowest since November 1973. The four-week average, which is less volatile, fell by 10,250 to 246,750, also the lowest since November 1973. The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits was 2.05 million, down 7.7 percent from a year earlier.

THE TAKEAWAY: Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have now come in below 300,000 for 98 straight weeks. The low totals suggest that businesses are confident about their prospects that they are holding on staff.

KEY DRIVERS: The unemployment rate last month came in at 4.7 percent, close to what economists consider full employment.

Employers aren't cutting many jobs, but their hiring has slowed. They added 180,000 jobs a month last year, down from an average 229,000 in 2015.

Still, Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a research note that job growth is still "more than strong enough to keep the unemployment rate trending down."

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

Business
PAUL WISEMAN

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast