Jobless Claims in U.S. Decline for Third Time in Four Weeks

By Katia Dmitrieva / March 15, 2018 / www.bloomberg.com / Article Link

'Good Side' of U.S. Eco Data Is Strong, Says BofA's Meyer

U.S. filings for unemployment benefits fell for the third time in four weeks and remain near the lowest level in 48 years, underscoring tightness in the job market, Labor Department figures showed Thursday.

Highlights of Jobless Claims (Week Ended March 10)

Jobless claims decreased by 4k to 226k (est. 228k)

Continuing claims rose by 4k to 1.879m in week ended March 3 (data reported with one-week lag)

Four-week average of initial claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, fell to 221,500 from the prior week’s 222,250; year-earlier figure was 243,000

Key Takeaways

The U.S. labor market is still in solid shape, with weekly applications for jobless benefits over the past three years below the 300,000 level that’s consistent with health. The figures reflect how companies are holding on to employees and highlight a big problem they face: finding people with necessary skills to fill open positions.

The data follow the February jobs report last week showing employers added the most workers since mid-2016, while the labor-force participation rate had the biggest jump in almost eight years.