Number of people applying for new benefits falls by 27,000 to 300,000
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits sank last week to the second-lowest level since the recession ended in mid-2009, suggesting continued improvement in a labor market that’s perked up in the early spring.
Initial jobless claims fell by 27,000 to 300,000 in the week ended May 24, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims to total 322,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
A year earlier, new jobless claims were running around 350,000 a week.
What’s more, the average of new claims over the past month declined by 11,250 to 311,500 to mark the lowest level since August 2007. The monthly figure smooths out the jumpiness in the weekly report and offers a better look at underlying labor-market trends.
Initial jobless claims are a gauge of whether layoffs are rising or falling. Changes in the number of people seeking benefits tends to correlate over time with how many jobs the economy is producing. The U.S. has added more than 200,000 jobs a month during the past three months, marking the best stretch of job creation since the end of the recession.
Also, the government said continuing claims decreased by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.63 million in the week ended May 17. Continuing claims reflect the number of people already receiving benefits and are reported with a one-week lag.
Initial claims from two weeks ago, meanwhile, were revised up to 327,000 from 326,000.
