New jobless claims drop to 440,000 as red states opt out of boosted unemployment benefits
by Zachary Halaschak, Economics Reporter |
| May 20, 2021 08:33 AM
The number of new applications for unemployment benefits dropped 34,000 last week to 440,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, as several Republican states announce plans to leave the expanded federal program early.
The number of new claims, which represents the number of people who filed for unemployment in the previous week, was below forecasters’ expectations of 450,000 new claims. The number is also less than the week before, when the Labor Department reported that 478,000 people filed for unemployment, the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
"Economic momentum is now sufficiently robust as to be the source of reopening strains, compared to the pandemic-caused loss of activity experienced a year ago," said Bankrate's senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. "Even so, the disappointing April payrolls picture has, at the very least, prompted a re-assessment and questioning whether matching millions of available jobs with the unemployed is more difficult than imagined."
The labor market is being closely watched given that some economists assert there is an emerging labor shortage. April’s jobs report was a major disappointment, with the economy adding just 266,000 jobs, a figure that fell far short of forecasters’ predictions of nearly 1 million new jobs. The unemployment rate also increased slightly, to 6.1%.
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/us-jobless-claims-boosted-unemployment-benefits
