New applications for unemployment benefits held steady at an ultra-low 234,000 in the first full week of April, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
That is the second-lowest mark for jobless claims since late 1973, after last week’s number was revised up by 1,000 to 235,000.
Thursday’s highly encouraging report easily beat forecasters’s expectations, which were for jobless claims to inch up to around 243,000.
Government economists and investors keep close watch of the weekly jobless claims numbers because they give a sense of whether layoffs are rising or falling, and accordingly whether job growth is strong.
For that reason, Thursday’s jobless claims numbers will reassure the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve that March’s relatively slow job growth of 98,000, reported Friday, is likely to be a one-off disappointment, and that the underlying trend of job creation is in place.
“In short, claims remain low, adding to the evidence that the slowing in payrolls in March was due to weather effects,” wrote Jim O’Sullivan, chief economist for High Frequency Economics.
The report also illustrates the magnitude of the jobs recovery over the past seven years. Altogether, just over 2 million people received unemployment benefits at the beginning of April. Benefits are available for up to 26 weeks in most states. In comparison, as many as 6.6 million workers got benefits during the worst months of the recession in 2009.
Claims are adjusted for seasonal variations.
