The number of Americans filing new jobless claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to another low level of job losses that could ease fears about the health of the labor market.
Initial claims for state jobless benefits fell by 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 218,000 for the week ended Sept. 21, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 applications for the final week.
Although the labor market has lost momentum amid shrinking job openings and reduced hiring, layoffs have remained low and show no signs of worsening.
Applications have mostly been treading water since falling from an 11-month high of 250,000 in late July following temporary factory lockouts in the auto industry.
A strike by about 30,000 engineers at Boeing ( NYSE:BA ), which forced the aerospace company to announce temporary layoffs for tens of thousands of workers, including what it said were “a large number of U.S.-based executives, managers and employees,” could boost applications in the coming weeks.
Striking workers are not eligible for unemployment benefits, but the work stoppage could cause employment disruptions at Boeing suppliers, in addition to temporary layoffs.
The number of people receiving benefits after a first week of aid, a proxy for hiring, rose by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.834 million in the week ended Sept. 14, the claims report showed.
So-called continuing claims fell from more than 2-1/2-year highs hit in July, attributed to policy changes in Minnesota that allowed the state’s non-teaching staff to apply for unemployment aid during the summers school holidays.
The ongoing claims data capped the week in which the government surveyed households for September’s jobless rate. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in August, after rising to 4.3% in July. A rise in the unemployment rate from 3.4% in April 2023, as increased immigration boosted labor supply, has sparked fears of a rapid deterioration in the labor market.
The Federal Reserve last week cut interest rates by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75%-5.00%, the first reduction in borrowing costs since 2020, which Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said had aiming to demonstrate the commitment of policy makers to maintaining a low unemployment rate.
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Reference;
Reuters (2024) US auto sales set to fall in September on fewer selling days, report shows By Reuters, Investing.com. Investing.com. Available at: https://www.investing.com/news/economic-indicators/us-auto-sales-set-to-fall-in-september-on-fewer-selling-days-report-shows-3634057 (Accessed: 26 September 2024).
