Initial unemployment claims are expected to reach a new pandemic-era low last week, bringing the level of weekly new filings closer to pre-virus levels, Yahoo Finance reported.
The Labor Department released its weekly jobless claims report on Thursday morning and here are the main metrics expected from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
Initial unemployment claims, week ended Aug. 14: 348,000 versus 364,000 expected, and a revised 377,000 during the prior week.
Continuing claims, week ended Aug. 7: 2.82 million versus 2.8 million expected, and a revised 2.89 million during the prior week
New weekly jobless claims posted a fourth straight weekly decline, coming in yet again below the psychologically important 400,000 level. Even with the anticipated drop, new weekly claims would still be elevated compared to the period before the pandemic, with claims averaging just over 200,000 per week throughout 2019.
“Amid no shortage of quickly changing crosscurrents in the U.S. economy and beyond, one reliable constant has been continued improvement or stability in new claims for unemployment benefits, which are a proxy for layoffs,” Mark Hamrick, Bankrate senior economic analyst, wrote in an email. “The major issue for employers hasn’t been an urgent need to shed workers. Rather, many have struggled to attract, find, hire, and retain the workers they want.”
Click here to read the full report from Emily McCormick in Yahoo Finance.
