(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Economy Unemployment
The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits fell last week to 473,000, the lowest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is down 34,000 applications from the week before at 507,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Also, the insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending May 1, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the week before. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 1 was 3,655,000, a decrease of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
The 4-week moving average was also 3,665,000, a decrease of 13,250 from the previous week’s average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 28 of last year.
This is the latest evidence that fewer employers are cutting jobs as spending increases and more businesses reopen. Applications declined 34,000 from a revised 507,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims — which can measure the amount of layoffs — has fallen significantly from the 900,000 January peak. Employers added 266,000 jobs in April, but many struggle to attract applicants.
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 1 were in Kentucky, New Jersey, Delaware, and Vermont; the largest decreases were in Virginia, New York, Florida, California, and Oklahoma. Many of the states showing decreases in claims attribute the drops to fewer layoffs in industries such as the service industry, transportation, and waste management.
