Initial filings for unemployment insurance fell last week and remained near their lowest levels in more than 50 years, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
Unemployment claims for the week ending December 25 total 198,000 won, lower than the Dow Jones forecast of 205,000 and down 8,000 from the previous period.
When adjusting for weekly volatility, the four-week moving average for claims is 199,250, the lowest since October 25, 1969.
Continuing to claim, the data runs after headline numbers a week, which fell 140,000 to 1.72 million, the lowest since March 7, 2020, just before Covid pandemic declaration.
The numbers reflect an increasingly tight labor market and have been accompanied by the Federal Reserve pulling back on some of the historic support it adopted during the crisis. The national unemployment rate has dropped to 4.2%, a far cry from the peak of 14.8% in April 2020.
Despite a downward trend in initial claims, the total number of grant recipients in all programs rose by nearly 40,000 to 2.18 million, according to data through Dec.
Some of the drop in claims has come from ending benefits through programs created during the pandemic that offer enhanced and extended payments. However, the total benefit received is far from what it was a year ago when 20.5 million people joined the various programs.
The job market also saw a record pace in job vacancies, many looking for better opportunities elsewhere as average hourly earnings rose amid an inflationary environment the US has never seen. for many decades.
The Fed has responded to inflation by accelerating the rate of reduction in monthly bond purchases. That program is expected to be completed in a few months, and the market expects the central bank to begin raising interest rates in March 2022.
