For the week ending May 14, the Labor Department reported an increase of 21,000 in first claims for state unemployment benefits, bringing the total to 218,000, the highest level since January. This week, Reuters polled a group of economists and predicted that 200,000 people applied for jobs.
There has been little movement since March’s 53-year low of 166,000 jobless claims. But the labor market is swiftly tightening and generating significant wage growth, which is helping to boost overall inflation in the economy.
At the end of March, there were 11.5 million job opportunities, which was a new high. Claimants’ numbers have fallen from a record high of 6.137 million at the beginning of April 2020.
Last week, the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits in the United States surprisingly surged, but the labor market remained tight, with the number of unemployed Americans at its lowest level since 1969 in early May.
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What did the Labor Department say?
The Labor Department said on Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted total of 218,000 for the week ending May 14. This was the highest level since January. Reuters polled economists, and they predicted that there would be 200,000 applications in the most recent week.
Despite the fact that jobless claims have mostly stagnated since touching more than a 53-year low of 166,000 in March, the labor market is swiftly tightening and generating significant wage growth that is helping to fuel overall inflation in the economy.
Increasingly tight monetary conditions have compelled the Federal Reserve to act aggressively.
Read More: Initial Unemployment Claims in The United States Increased by 21,000
After a 75-basis-point hike in March, the Federal Reserve has now boosted its key interest rate by another 25 basis points. It is projected that the Federal Reserve would raise the overnight rate by half a percentage point at each of its next meetings in June and July.
More than 11 million jobs were available at the end of March, a new high for this year. A record 6.137 million people applied for unemployment benefits in early April 2020.
According to the May employment report
The nonfarm payrolls section of the May employment report was surveyed by the government during the period covered by last week’s statistics. Claims increased from April to May, according to the data. It was the 12th month in a row that payrolls climbed by more than 400,000.
Next week’s data on the number of people out of work in mid-May will shed more light on this month’s job growth.
There were 25,000 fewer persons getting benefits after the first week than there were in the previous week, according to the weekly report ending May 7. As far as “continued claims” are concerned, that was the lowest level seen since December 1969.
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