John Sommers II/Getty Images
US jobless claims fell to 444,000 last week, setting a pandemic-era low.
Economists estimated claims would reach 450,000. The previous week s sum was revised higher to 478,000.
Continuing claims jumped to 3.75 million for the week that ended May 8, landing above forecasts.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance fell again last week as reopening spurred more hiring.
New jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 444,000 last week, the Labor Department announced Thursday morning. The median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a modest jump to 450,000 claims. The reading marked a third straight decline and placed claims at a new pandemic-era low.
Bryan Woolston/Reuters
US jobless claims sank to 473,000 last week, marking the fourth decline in five weeks.
Economists expected claims to total 490,000. The prior week s count was revised higher to 507,000.
Continuing claims dropped to 3.66 million for the week that ended May 1, just above estimates.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped once again as the US economy reopened further.
New jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 473,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was lower than the median estimate of 490,000 from economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The reading marks the fourth decline in five weeks and places claims at their lowest since the pandemic froze economic activity in March 2020. The previous week s reading was revised to 507,000 from 498,000.
Marco Bello/Reuters
While April s jobs report was a huge miss, unemployment claims have fallen for weeks, and just did again.
Other positive signals suggest the April data could be revised higher and hiring is stronger than it seems.
Hiring could rebound as barriers like childcare and low wages are reversed, economist Robert Frick said.
There s whiplash in the labor market.
Friday s jobs report was, by nearly all measures, a huge disappointment. Payroll growth was roughly one-quarter of what economists anticipated, the unemployment rate rose, and several sectors shed jobs while roughly 10 million Americans remain unemployed. So how does that square with today s news that unemployment claims just notched another pandemic-era low, the fourth in five weeks?