U.S. Unemployment Claims Hit New Covid-19 Pandemic Low

Worker filings for jobless benefits declined to 547,000 last week, a new pandemic low that adds to evidence of a strengthening labor market and overall economic recovery.

Initial unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell 39,000 last week from an upwardly revised 586,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That put new claims on a seasonally adjusted basis below 600,000 for two consecutive weeks in mid-April, their lowest levels since early 2020. The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility in the weekly figures, was 651,000, also a pandemic low.

Claims remain higher than the pre-pandemic levels—the weekly average in 2019 was about 218,000—but last week’s drop extended a downward trend since the start of this year.

“We’re still pretty deep into the hole created by the pandemic,” said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at jobs website Glassdoor. “But at the same time, there is more optimism now than at any other point in the pandemic.”

A confluence of factors has offered signals that the economic recovery is accelerating, including a surge last month in retail sales and jobs added as Covid-19 vaccination totals increased and the economy more fully reopened. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal in April forecast on average that U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 5.59% annual rate during the first quarter of 2021. That was up from an average forecast of 2.21% growth from the January survey.

Recent federal stimulus aid has sent many households direct cash payments. Meanwhile, about a third of U.S. adults age 18 or over have been fully vaccinated, and more than half have received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.