WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2022) US jobless claims hovered at five-decade lows last week as the labor market remained a juggernaut of the economy despite a GDP slowdown in the first quarter, government data showed Thursday.
"In the week ending April 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 180,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level," the Labor Department said in a news release.
Continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline number, fell by 58,000 to 1.417 million, the lowest level since February 21, 1970.
The Commerce Department, meanwhile, reported a 1.4% decline in gross domestic product (GDP) growth between January and March. It was the first negative US GDP growth since a 31.2% decline between March and June 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak. The first-quarter retreat came after a resurgence in coronavirus cases and fewer pandemic relief payments by the government.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen noted in a speech on Thursday that of all tools policy-makers had for fighting a recession, the labor market was probably the most resilient, with employment having reached record highs from all-time lows hit just two years ago.
"It is necessary to preserve attachment to the labor force in an economic downturn," Yellen said. "While we need more work to best target our policy response, in recent years we've worked with multiple new policy levers to keep workers on payroll and off on long-term unemployment."
Joblessness among Americans reached a record high of 14.8% in April 2020, with the loss of some 20 million jobs in the aftermath of the coronavirus breakout. Employment has, however, been stellar over the past year, with the jobless rate moving down to 3.6% in March. A jobless rate of 4% or below is regarded by the Federal Reserve as "maximum employment."
Aside from ramping job numbers, the United States is experiencing one of the greatest transformations of its employment market as COVID-19 measures upended labor supply and work trends, putting employees' demands above those of employers.
