Jobs Claims in U.S.Decline to Lowest Level in Four Decades

[Stuart G]

Last edited Thu Nov 17, 2016, 12:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Bloomberg.com

The fewest Americans since 1973 filed for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the U.S. labor market is getting tighter.

Jobless claims dropped by 19,000 to 235,000 in the week ended Nov. 12, which included the Veterans Day holiday, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for an increase to 257,000. Continuing claims fell below 2 million to a 16-year low.

The biggest drop in initial claims since June suggests employers are loath to fire workers as the economy continues its modest expansion and the number of experienced applicants available for hiring remains limited. Filings for unemployment benefits have stayed below 300,000 for 89 straight weeks -- the longest streak since 1970 and a level typical for a healthy labor market.

Were exhausting the pool of workers that we can draw from out of the unemployed, said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. Were approaching full employment, so were seeing really strong job gains, but they cant continue for very long.

Estimates for initial claims in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 245,000 to 275,000. The prior weeks reading was unrevised at 254,000.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/jobless-claims-in-u-s-decline-to-lowest-level-in-four-decades

[muntrv]

1. But...but Amurka ain't great! Trump sez so! Derp, derp, derp.

[George II]

2. Thanks Obama! We have several more months of improved prosperity before...

...the new administration's draconian policies kick in and all of this comes to an end.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

5. Unreal... still in shock over all this. Too bad Obama couldn't run for a 3rd term.

[truthisfreedom]

3. Declime?

[Stuart G]

7. error corrected.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. And that's why the 'change, even if it means putting a conman in charge' candidate won

[Sunlei]

6. we're down to 4.9% who need a job, lowest in 30? years. Next we need to make Corps pay the prison sl

Next we need to make Corps pay the prison slaves federal minimum wage( $7.25 an hour) so they can support their families on the 'outside'. We have 2 million prison workers who work for Corps at less then $1 an hour, many only paid 20 cents an hour. The for profit prisons charges slaves for things like phone calls, tampons and use up the $10 a week on a phone call.

[Jimbo S]

8. Were exhausting the pool of workers that we can draw from out of the unemployed

which will in turn cause employers to raid other employers of their employees. The carrot on the stick to drive this is the offer of *higher wages*. Been waiting for this for seven years.

[YOHABLO]

9. So it took us from the crash of 2008 till present to get here. Now allow Trump&Co to ruin it.