Posted on 11/22/2017 7:16:05 AM PST by gubamyster
First-time jobless claims fell 13,000 to 239,000 last week, the Department of Labor reported Wednesday, more than the 9,000 drop economists expected.
With Wednesday's numbers, claims have continued to hover at extremely low levels, despite the fall disruption of the hurricanes that slammed the southeastern U.S. Claims collections in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are still being affected by the storms, the agency said.
Low jobless claims are a good sign for the economy. If fewer people are applying for benefits at state agencies, it suggests that layoffs are relatively rare, and job creation high.
"Claims remain low, even with a modest boost from delayed Hurricane-Maria-related filings in Puerto Rico in recent weeks," noted Jim O'Sullivan, economist for the forecasting group High Frequency Economics. The data continue to signal enough strength in employment growth to keep the unemployment rate trending down."
At 4.1 percent in October, unemployment is the lowest it has been since the year 2000.
Unemployment numbers are released monthly. Jobless claims numbers, though, are published weekly, and are valued by investors and the Federal Reserve as a real-time gauge of the health of the labor market.
The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits, which are available for up to 26 weeks in most states, stayed near the lowest levels in nearly 44 years in early November. Altogether, 1.9 million people collected benefits, a mark of the extent of the labor market recovery.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Are these the same economists who claim tax cuts don’t work and explode the deficit?
Calvin Coolidge said something to the effect that an economist is someone who observes reality and tries to find a theory to fit.
Very encouraging, but I would like to have more clarity on whether the reduction is based upon people re-entering the workforce or if there are more instances of people simply leaving the system after their unemployment benefits have expired and have not found gainful employment.
Actually, it’s Obama economic policy finally kicking in, as planned./s
Obama kicks dog.
I believe the former. I saw previous data showing most folks are leaving UI before exhausting benefits.
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