The Department of Labour reported that initial jobless claims, a sign of the level of layoffs, rose in the week to Apr 16 by 9,000 to 257,000.
Claims for new unemployment benefits in the United States have hit a fresh 42-year low. (AFP/Karen Bleier)
WASHINGTON: The US jobs market remains tight despite slower
economic growth, with the pace of claims for new unemployment benefits
holding at a 42-year low last week, data showed on Thursday (Apr 28).
The Department of Labour reported that initial jobless
claims, a sign of the level of layoffs, rose in the week to Apr 16 by
9,000 to 257,000.
While slightly higher than the week before, it was the 60th week of
claims holding below 300,000, the longest such streak since 1973. And
the four-week moving average of claims was just 256,000, a level last
seen in December 1973.Layoffs by US businesses remain low despite an overall sluggish pace of economic growth in the first quarter of the year of just 0.5 per cent, according to the Department of Commerce's initial estimate Thursday.
The claims data indicated the economy was absorbing reasonably well the deep layoffs in the energy sector, hit hard by the oil price crash.
The US unemployment rate was at 5.0 per cent at the end of March, one of the lowest rates among developed economies. That rate is expected to fall slowly toward 4.7 per cent this year, the decline tempered by more dropouts from the labor force returning to join the hunt for jobs.
- AFP/de
US jobs market stays tight; jobless claims at 42-year low
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