In World Economy News 08/06/2018
The number of Americans claiming new unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling continued health in the labor market.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., dropped by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 in the week ended June 2, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected 220,000 new claims last week.
Data can be volatile from week to week, especially around the holidays when seasonal adjustments are sometimes difficult; last Monday was Memorial Day. The four-week moving average of claims, a more-stable measure, increased to 225,500 last week.
Unemployment-benefit applications have remained low for years, a sign that relatively few Americans are being laid off and seeking assistance in a buoyant U.S. job market.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in May, the lowest since April 2000, the Labor Department reported last week. U.S. nonfarm employers added 223,000 jobs last month, extending the longest continuous job expansion on record to 92 months.
Thursday’s report showed the number of claims workers made for longer than a week increased by 21,000 to 1,741,000 in the week ended May 26. That figure, known as continuing claims, is reported with a one-week lag.
Source: Dow Jones
