The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 444,000, a new pandemic low and a sign that the job market keeps strengthening as consumers spend freely again, viral infections drop and business restrictions ease.
This morning’s report from the Labor Department shows that applications declined 34,000 from a revised 478,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims—a rough measure of the pace of layoffs—has declined steadily since the year began.
About 16 million people were receiving unemployment benefits during the week ending May 1, the latest period for which data is available. That is down from 16.9 million in the previous week, and it suggests that some Americans who had been receiving aid have found jobs.
The data release coincides with rapid moves by nearly all the nation’s Republican governors to cut off a $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit that they and many business executives blame for discouraging the unemployed from seeking jobs. Those cutoffs of federal jobless aid will begin in June.
In addition, 35 states have reinstated a requirement that jobless aid recipients search for work in order to keep receiving benefits. Louisiana will reinstate the requirement in August. Read the full report.
