New unemployment claims improved more than expected last week, further reflecting a tight labor market and relatively low levels of firings and layoffs.
The Labor Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday and here are the main metrics compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
- Initial jobless claims, week ended March 12: 214,000 versus 220,000 expected; 227,000 during prior week
- Continuing claims, week ended March 5: 1.42 million versus 1.48 million expected; 1.45 million during prior week
Jobless claims came in below 250,000 for a seventh consecutive week and hovered around pre-pandemic levels. And at 214,000, initial claims were at their lowest level of 2022.
Continuing claims, which track the total number of individuals claiming benefits across regular state programs, have held well below levels from even before the pandemic, coming in under 1.5 million for four consecutive weeks now. Throughout 2019, continuing claims averaged around 1.7 million per week.
The labor market has remained a bright spot in the U.S. economy, especially as a brief hit from the Omicron variant earlier this year unwound further in the most recent economic data.
To view the full report from Emily McCormick at Yahoo Finance, click here.
