{"id":123997,"date":"2021-05-06T14:10:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T14:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=123997"},"modified":"2021-05-06T14:10:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T14:10:08","slug":"jobless-claims-tumble-below-500000-in-another-sign-the-labor-market-is-getting-closer-to-pre-pandemic-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/jobless-claims-tumble-below-500000-in-another-sign-the-labor-market-is-getting-closer-to-pre-pandemic-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobless claims tumble below 500,000 in another sign the labor market is getting closer to pre-pandemic levels"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, sinking below 500,000 for the first time since the Covid crash. <\/li>\n<li>The total of 498,000 was a drop of nearly 100,000 from the previous week and below the 527,000 Dow Jones estimate.<\/li>\n<li>Productivity increased more than expected in the first quarter, while unit labor costs did not drop by as much as anticipated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The U.S. employment picture improved sharply last week, with first-time claims for unemployment insurance dipping below 500,000 for the first time since the pandemic crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Initial claims totaled 498,000 for the week ended March 1, against the Dow Jones estimate of 527,000. That was down from the previous week&#x27;s total of 590,000, which saw a substantial upward revision from the initially reported 553,000.<\/p>\n<p><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 20 20\" fill=\"#002F6C\" aria-labelledby=\"title desc\" role=\"img\" focusable=\"false\" data-analytic-id=\"expand-icon\" class=\"InlineImage-background\"><title>Zoom In Icon<\/title><desc>Arrows pointing outwards<\/desc><circle cx=\"10\" cy=\"10\" r=\"10\" fill=\"white\" stroke=\"#002F6C\"><\/circle><\/path><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>While the jobs market still has a long way to go before it fully heals from the pandemic damage, improvement has accelerated in recent weeks as restrictions on activity continue to be lifted.<\/p>\n<p>Though the pace has eased lately, the U.S. is still vaccinating more than 2 million people a day and soon will have half the population with at least one shot.<\/p>\n<p>The claims decline comes a day before the Labor Department releases its nonfarm payroll count for April. Economists expect that the economy added another 1 million jobs during the month, with hiring likely to be the quickest in the hospitality sector, which sustained the worst of the pandemic-related damage.<\/p>\n<p>However, continuing claims actually ticked higher last week, rising 37,000 to just below 3.7 million. The four-week moving average for claims edged down to 3.68 million, the lowest since March 28, 2020, just as mass layoffs were beginning to combat the spreading coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;While forecasts put a return to pre-pandemic employment two years off, job gains are cutting financial stress and poverty by leaps and bounds now, and this strong trend should continue at least through the summer,&quot; said Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union.<\/p>\n<p><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 20 20\" fill=\"#002F6C\" aria-labelledby=\"title desc\" role=\"img\" focusable=\"false\" data-analytic-id=\"expand-icon\" class=\"InlineImage-background\"><title>Zoom In Icon<\/title><desc>Arrows pointing outwards<\/desc><circle cx=\"10\" cy=\"10\" r=\"10\" fill=\"white\" stroke=\"#002F6C\"><\/circle><\/path><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>While last week&#x27;s numbers indicate more growth in the labor market, they won&#x27;t figure into the nonfarm payrolls count because they are outside the survey week the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to compile its estimate.<\/p>\n<p>At the state level, only Kentucky reported a notable increase, with its claims rising 4,657, according to unadjusted numbers. Virginia (-23,909), Florida (-9,662) and California (-7,402) were among the states posting significant declines.<\/p>\n<p>The total of those receiving benefits fell by 404,509 to 16.16 million due to a big drop in pandemic-related programs.<\/p>\n<p>A separate economic report showed that nonfarm business labor productivity accelerated 5.4% in the first quarter, well above the 4.5% Dow Jones estimate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unit labor costs fell 0.3%, which was not as much as the 1% forecast.<\/p>\n<p>Become a smarter investor with <strong>CNBC Pro<\/strong>.<br \/>Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV.<br \/>Sign up to start a free trial today.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/05\/06\/weekly-jobless-claims.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":123996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23051],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jobless claims tumble below 500,000 in another sign the labor market is getting closer to pre-pandemic levels - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/jobless-claims-tumble-below-500000-in-another-sign-the-labor-market-is-getting-closer-to-pre-pandemic-levels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jobless claims tumble below 500,000 in another sign the labor market is getting closer to pre-pandemic levels - 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