The number of U.S. workers filing for jobless aid fell to another pandemic-era low last week, a sign the economy continues to strengthen.
The Labor Department’s weekly jobs report shows seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment benefits were 498,000, a decrease of 92,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This good news doesn’t alter the fact that about 16.2 million people are still receiving unemployment benefits.
Another 101,000 people applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a federal program for self-employed and gig workers.
“The good news is coming from all sides, with both regular initial claims and PUA initial claims declining. Both are now at their respective lows since the start of the pandemic,” AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said in a report, according to CBS News.
Reports on Wednesday showed private employers hired the most workers in seven months in April, while a measure of services industry jobs rose to more than a 2-1/2-year high. Reuters is reporting that consumers’ perceptions of the labor market are the strongest in 13 months.
As CNBC notes, the country still has a long way to go before fully healing from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, however, improvement has accelerated over the past few weeks as President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine efforts are coming close to getting at least one shot into the arms of at least half of the population.
“While forecasts put a return to pre-pandemic employment two years off, job gains are cutting financial stress and poverty by leaps and bounds now, and this strong trend should continue at least through the summer,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union.
