Last week, the number of people filing unemployment claims fell to its lowest level in more than 52 years, according to the Labor Department.
New claims reached 199,000, the highest amount since Nov. 15, 1969, when 197,000 were filed.
The Labor Department could not point to any specific causes that contributed to the precipitous drop, which might be a portent of things to come for a job market that has been trying to recover since the Covid-19 shock in March 2020.
Seasonal changes looked to be at least partly to blame for the drop. The overall number of unadjusted claims was 258,622, which was up 7.6% from the previous week.
Other economic reports include: Second-quarter GDP growth was revised up to 2.1 percent on Wednesday morning, however it fell short of expectations of 2.2 percent. In addition, durable goods orders fell 0.5 percent, below forecasts of a 0.2 percent increase. Along with the decline in weekly claims, continuing claims fell by 60,000 to 2.05 million, a new pandemic-era low and a clear indication that the labor market is tightening significantly. According to figures until November 6, the overall number of people receiving benefits under all programs declined by 752,390 to 2.43 million.
The news comes at a time when inflation in the United States is at its highest level in 30 years. As manufacturers and service providers try to satisfy rising demand, clogged ports and supply chains have been important drivers to increasing pricing. The drop in weekly claims may attract the attention of Federal Reserve policymakers, who have maintained crisis-level measures despite the gradual recovery in the labor market.
