Workers filing for new unemployment benefits fell to a new pandemic-era low in the latest week, hitting their lowest levels in more than a year as the labor market continued to heal from the worst days of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Department of Labor released its weekly report on new jobless claims Thursday and here are the main metrics, compared to consensus data compiled by Bloomberg:
Initial jobless claims, week ended May 15: 444,000 vs. 450,000 expected, and an upwardly revised 478,000 during prior week
Continuing claims, week ended May 8: 3.7 million vs. 3.6 million expected, and 3.6 million during prior week
Thursday’s data was the lowest level for initial claims since March 2020, when the data checked in at 256,000, according to Labor Department data. Since the beginning of the year, weekly jobless claims have tumbled by nearly half, and have fallen precipitously from their pandemic-era peak of more than 6 million last year.
Click here to see the full report from Javier E. David at Yahoo Finance.