US initial jobless claims decline to lowest since 1969

[WASHINGTON] Applications for US state unemployment insurance fell last week to the lowest since 1969 as employers desperately try to hang onto workers amid near-record job openings and depressed labour-force participation.

Initial unemployment claims decreased by 28,000 to 187,000 in the week ended Mar 19, Labor Department data showed on Thursday (Mar 24). The median estimate called for 210,000 applications in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Continuing claims for state benefits dropped to 1.35 million in the week ended Mar 12, the lowest since 1970.

The drop in claims is consistent with a labour market in which employers are desperately trying to hang onto workers and attract new ones. Applications should stay low as the combination of dwindling savings and decades-high inflation is raising Americans' financial incentive to work.

The level of claims is the lowest of the pandemic period, reflecting a jobs market that Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell described as being at a "tight to an unhealthy level" last week. He also cited millions of job openings and a historically low unemployment rate.

California, Michigan and Kentucky were states registering the biggest drops in unadjusted claims. BLOOMBERG