Applications for unemployment insurance fell to 267,000 in the week spanning the end of March and the beginning of April, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, down from 276,000 the previous week.
The drop was slightly more than expected by private sector economists, who had anticipated that jobless claims would drift down to 272,000, according to a survey conducted by Bloomberg.
For most of 2016, jobless claims have been very low, a sign that the economic recovery has momentum. Fewer claims are taken to mean fewer layoffs, and greater net job growth.
Thursday’s numbers showed few signs of any change in that trend. The release marked 57 straight weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest such run since 1973. Economists calculate that any number of claims below the 300,000 to 325,000 range will put downward pressure on the unemployment rate.
“The consistent stretch of initial unemployment insurance claims below 300,000 demonstrates that the labor market is on a solid footing,” PNC economist Gus Faucher wrote in a commentary on the data.
The monthly moving average, a less-volatile gauge of claims, rose slightly to 266,750, influenced by a jump in claims last week.
The Labor Department adjusts the claims numbers to smooth out seasonal variations.
Thursday’s report added to the good news from Friday’s jobs report, which showed that the economy added 215,000 payroll jobs in March. Over the past three months, net job gains have averaged 209,000, well above the 75,000 to 100,000 that Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and other economists have said are necessary to keep employment rising and the unemployment rate falling.
Strong job growth is the strongest signal, amid mixed data about headwinds to the U.S. from overseas, that the economic recovery currently stretching toward its seventh year might last through the end of President Obama’s tenure. It’s also the clearest sign that Fed will see the growth it has been holding out for in waiting to raise its interest rate target this year.
