Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
US Jobless Claims Fall to 547,000, Another Pandemic Low
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
April 22, 2021

Share

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid fell last week to 547,000, the lowest point since the pandemic struck and an encouraging sign that layoffs are slowing on the strength of an improving job market.

Job Opportunities Increase with Economy Opening Back Up

The Labor Department said Thursday that applications declined 39,000 from a revised 586,000 a week earlier. Weekly jobless claims are down sharply from a peak of 900,000 in early January. At the same time, they’re still far above the roughly 230,000 level that prevailed before the viral outbreak ripped through the economy in March of last year.

“With 135 million Americans having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination and the economy opening up more each day, the number of job opportunities will continue to rise,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, a European bank.

About 17.4 million people were continuing to collect unemployment benefits in the week that ended April 3, up from 16.9 million in the previous week. Most of the increase occurred in two states, California and Texas, which process their claims every other week. In California, recipients of a federal program for the long-term unemployed jumped nearly 50%, a sign that the state likely processed a backlog of claims that had been filed earlier.

Still, the number of ongoing recipients has declined by about 2.3 million from early March, when the figure was 19.7 million, evidence that more people are being hired. Some long-term unemployed may have also exhausted all their benefits.

Data Skewed with Backlogs and Fraud Claims

The overall job market has been making steady gains. Last month, the nation’s employers added 916,000 jobs, the most since August, in a sign that a sustained recovery is taking hold. The unemployment rate fell from 6.2% to 6%, well below the pandemic peak of nearly 15%.

The number of available jobs has also jumped in recent weeks, leading many employers to complain that they can’t find enough workers despite still-high unemployment. Several factors may be keeping some of those out of work from searching for jobs. They include fears of contracting the virus, child care needs and the fact that a federal supplemental unemployment benefit of $300 a week, on top of state aid, means that some low-income workers can receive as much or more income from jobless benefits compared with their former job’s pay.

The weekly data on applications for jobless aid is generally seen as a rough measure of layoffs because only people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own are eligible. But during the pandemic, the numbers have become a less reliable barometer.

States have struggled to clear backlogs of unemployment applications, and suspected fraud has clouded the actual volume of job cuts. In addition, the supplemental federal jobless payment, on top of regular state unemployment aid, might have encouraged more people to apply for benefits.

Economic Recovery also Means Steady Rise in Inflation

For now, the economy is showing steady signs of recovering. Sales at retail stores and restaurants soared 10% in March — the biggest increase since last May. Federal stimulus checks of $1,400 have been sent to most adults. And Americans who have kept their jobs have accumulated additional savings, part of which they will likely spend now that states and cities have loosened business restrictions and the virus wanes.

Economic growth is accelerating so fast that the principal concerns surrounding the economy have shifted from a high unemployment rate and anemic spending to bottlenecks in company supply chains and the difficulty some businesses say they are having in finding enough workers.

Those issues, in turn, have fed concerns that the Federal Reserve’s low-interest rate policies could fuel a spike in inflation. Last month, wholesale prices jumped 4.2% compared with a year earlier, the biggest 12-month increase in nearly a decade.

Still, consumer prices are, so far, rising at a more restrained pace. They increased 2.6% in March from a year earlier, mostly because of a jump in gas prices. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose just 1.6% in the previous 12 months.

Economists expect inflation to rise steadily in the coming months because prices fell about a year ago when the pandemic first hit and the economy largely shut down. That makes comparisons to price levels a year ago look particularly large.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he expects that higher inflation to prove temporary and that supply bottlenecks will eventually clear as shipping picks up and factories produce more parts.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Top Former US Generals Say Failures of Biden Administration in Planning Drove Chaotic Fall of Kabul

DON'T MISS

US Defense Chief Vows Continued Aid to Ukraine, Even as Congress Is Stalled on Funding Bill

DON'T MISS

‘Gorilla Hail’ as Big as Softballs Hits Parts of Kansas and Missouri

DON'T MISS

Time for a Change: 66% of Americans Want to End Daylight Saving Time Ritual

DON'T MISS

United Airlines Plane Makes a Safe Emergency Landing in LA After Losing a Tire During Takeoff

DON'T MISS

Bill That Could Make TikTok Unavailable in the US Advances Quickly in the House

DON'T MISS

76 US Congressional Members Call for Gaza Cease-Fire

DON'T MISS

New York Will Send National Guard to Subways After a String of Violent Crimes

DON'T MISS

Few Americans Want US More Involved in Current Wars in Ukraine and Gaza, AP-NORC Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

A 4-Year-Old Gaza Boy Lost His Arm – and His Family. Half a World Away, He’s Getting a Second Chance

No data was found

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

14 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

14 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

14 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

15 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

15 hours ago

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

15 hours ago

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

15 hours ago

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

17 hours ago

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

17 hours ago

Here Are Some Numbers That Will Help You Get Your March Madness Fix for the Sweet 16

17 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokes...

8 hours ago

8 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

Composite image of President Trump and Devin Nunes
12 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

13 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

14 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

14 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

14 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

15 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

15 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend