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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to
a seasonally adjusted 218,000 for the week ended June 9, the
Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims data for the prior
week was unrevised.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to
224,000 in the latest week. The Labor Department said claims for
Maine and Hawaii were estimated last week.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, viewed as a
better measure of labor market trends as it irons out
week-to-week volatility, fell 1,250 to 224,250 last week.
The labor market is considered to be close to or at full
employment, with the jobless rate at an 18-year low of 3.8
percent. The unemployment rate has dropped by three-tenths of a
percentage point this year. It is near the Federal Reserve's
forecast of 3.6 percent by the end of this year.
The U.S. central bank on Wednesday raised interest rates for a
second time this year and projected two more rate hikes in the
second half of 2018. It said the labor market "continued to
strengthen" and that job gains have been "strong."
Layoffs have remained very low amid signs of growing worker
shortages across all sectors of the economy. The were a record
6.7 million job openings in April. The number of unemployed
people per vacancy slipped to 0.9 from 1.0 in March, indicating
that most people looking for a job are likely to find one.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving
benefits after an initial week of aid declined 49,000 to 1.70
million in the week ended June 2, the lowest level since
December 1973. The four-week moving average of the so-called
continuing claims decreased 3,750 to 1.73 million, also the
lowest level since December 1973.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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