Thursday, April 28, 2016
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits climbed last week, but remained near the lowest level in four decades, a sign that the slumping economy isn't boosting layoffs.
The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 257,000. Applications fell in the previous week to the lowest since November 1973. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 256,000 last week, also a 42-year low.
The number of people receiving aid slipped to 2.13 million, nearly 6 percent lower than a year ago.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the historically low levels are a reassuring sign that weaker economic growth isn't panicking employers into cutting jobs.
Growth slowed to an annual pace of just 0.5 percent in the first quarter, the weakest pace in two years. That followed a weak showing of just 1.4 percent growth in the final three months of last year.
Yet low levels of applications indicate employers are cutting few jobs and probably still hiring. Applications have been below 300,000 for 60 straight weeks, the longest consecutive period since 1973.
Hiring has been solid in the first three months of the year, despite the slow growth. Employers added 215,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate was 5 percent, a healthy level historically.