Initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 in the past week, the lowest level for initial claims since March 1973.
This last week, 223,000 initial jobless claims were made, just slightly higher than the 222,000 claims made in March 1973, according to the Department of Labor. The four-week average is now 234,250, which is a decrease of 6,2550 from the previous weeks’ revised average.
The advanced seasonally-adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent for the week ending on Feb. 18, which is unchanged from the previous week’s rate.
The initial jobless claim, released by the Department of Labor, is used as a real-time measuring stick for the pace of layoffs and the overall state of the U.S. labor market. The newly unemployed usually file for unemployment benefits soon after they lose their jobs, which makes the jobless claims number such a good indicator.
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