Worker filings for unemployment benefits in the U.S. reached a new low since the Covid-19 pandemic began more than a year ago—the latest sign that the labor-market rebound is gathering force.
Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell 92,000 last week to 498,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That brings the four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out volatility in weekly data, to the lowest point since the pandemic took hold, though still well above pre-pandemic levels.
“Overall it looks like we’re seeing healing in the jobs market,” said Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist for S&P Global Ratings.
“That’s much better than just over a year ago, but that’s still double what there was pre-crisis,” she said. “It would be [considered] bad in a normal recession, let’s just put it that way.”
While the number of new applications has been declining, the level of Americans receiving unemployment benefits remains elevated and businesses can’t find enough people to hire.
