PiCK
US Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 189,000, Far Below Forecast
Summary
- The US Labor Department said last week’s initial jobless claims totaled 189,000, well below the forecast of 213,000.
- Continuing jobless claims came in at 1.785 million, below both the prior week’s revised figure and the market forecast.
- Economists are watching initial jobless claims and other employment indicators to gauge conditions in the US labor market and factors affecting corporate decision-making.
US applications for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, coming in well below market expectations.
The Labor Department said April 30 that initial jobless claims totaled 189,000 last week. That was 24,000 below economists’ forecast of 213,000 and 26,000 lower than the prior week’s revised 215,000.
Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people receiving unemployment benefits for a second consecutive week, totaled 1.785 million. That was down 23,000 from the previous week’s revised 1.808 million and 35,000 below the market forecast of 1.82 million.
Initial jobless claims are a closely watched indicator of conditions in the US labor market. An increase in claims can signal that an overheated labor market is beginning to cool.
Economists are monitoring jobless claims and other employment indicators to gauge the state of the US labor market and assess how President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies are affecting corporate decision-making.
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul
