The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week as the labour market continued to gradually ease.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits held at a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended March 2, the US Labor Department said on Thursday (Mar 7). Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims unchanged at 215,000 in the latest week.

The labour market is steadily loosening up, with 1.45 job openings per every unemployed person in January, government data showed on Wednesday. This ratio has dropped from 1.82 a year ago, but remains well above the average of 1.2 during the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report on Wednesday said “labour market tightness eased further,” in February but noted “difficulties persisted attracting workers for highly skilled positions”.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers on Wednesday that the US central bank expected “inflation to come down, the economy to keep growing,” but shied away from committing to any timetable for interest rate cuts.

Since March 2022, the Fed has raised its policy rate by 525 basis points to the current 5.25 per cent-5.50 per cent range.

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Claims remain near historically low levels, despite high profile layoffs at the start of the year. Employers are generally reluctant to let go of their workers after struggling to finding labour during and after the pandemic.

A separate report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday showed layoffs announced by US-based companies rose only 3 per cent to 84,638 in February.

Planned job cuts so far this year are down 7.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2023.

The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 8,000 to 1.906 million during the week ending Feb 24, the claims report showed. The claims data have no bearing on February’s employment report due on Friday, as they fall outside the survey periods.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 200,000 jobs last month. The economy added 353,000 positions in January.

The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 3.7 per cent and annual wage growth slowing to 4.4 per cent from 4.5 per cent in January. REUTERS