U.S. Jobless Claims Fell Last Week
February 22 2018 - 9:00AM
Dow Jones News
By Sharon Nunn and Sarah Chaney
WASHINGTON--The number of Americans filing applications for new
unemployment benefits fell last week for the third time in the past
four weeks.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S.,
declined by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 in the week
ended Feb. 17, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected 230,000 new claims
last week.
Jobless claims have fallen three out of the past four weeks
after hitting a nearly 45-year low in January, signaling the labor
market's tightness. Weekly jobless claims have held below a healthy
300,000 for about three years, the longest streak since the
1970s.
"Businesses want to retain workers, and the incredibly low level
of claims supports that view," Joel Naroff, Naroff Economic
Advisors chief economist, said in a note to clients last week.
Still, claims data can be volatile. The four-week moving
average, a steadier measure, fell 2,250 to 226,000 last week.
The number of claims workers made for longer than a week also
fell, declining to 1,875,000 in the week ended Feb. 10; continuing
claims are released with a one-week lag.
The unemployment rate has been parked for months at 4.1%, a
17-year low. Economists expect healthy growth and a further decline
in joblessness this year, supported by recent tax cuts.
The Labor Department's latest report on jobless claims can be
accessed at: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
Write to Sharon Nunn at sharon.nunn@wsj.com and Sarah Chaney at
sarah.chaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 22, 2018 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)
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