Initial jobless claims for the week of April 8 fell, contrary to expectations, in numbers released by the Department of Labor Thursday.
In the wake of lower-than-expected job creation numbers, Reuters anticipated 245,000 first-time filings, but the actual number was 234,000. Continuing jobless claims dropped by 7,000.
The four-week moving average stood at 247,250, a drop of 3,000 from last week’s average.
It is the second-lowest number of jobless claims since 1973.
The decline in March job growth reported last week is being dismissed by economists as mostly related to weather and is not seen as a reflection of the health of the U.S. economy.
Employment news has not been all good, though. Retailers have been closing stores and cutting jobs in the early months of 2017.
It was the 110th consecutive week that jobless claims were below 300,000, which is considered to be a benchmark of a robust economy. The streak is the longest since 1970, when the workforce was half what it is today.
“The labor market is near full employment,” Reuters reported, “with the unemployment rate close to a 10-year low of 4.5%.”
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