Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits as the number hit its lowest level in two months last week amid an ongoing tightening of the labor market. Bloomberg informed of.
Initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 228,000 in the week ending July 15, according to Labor Department data published on Thursday – the lowest since mid-May.
The number of people who have received unemployment benefits for more than a week increased by 33,000 to 1.75 million as of July 8. This was the biggest increase in three months.
This suggests the labor market remains strong as businesses hold onto employees, providing hope for the economy to avoid a recession this year.
“The clouds of recession warnings have lifted and company layoffs are down again,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York, according to Reuters.
“If there’s a recession, it’s without a lot of job loss. We don’t know of a recession in economic history, so there shouldn’t be a recession.”
The four-week moving average of claims, which equalizes some weekly volatility, declined from 9,250 to 237,500.
However, claims were little changed on an unadjusted basis for the week ended July 15. Applications rose in California, Georgia and South Carolina while other states, including Michigan and Kentucky, saw declines.
