by Harry Wilmerding
The number of Americans who filed for new unemployment claims decreased to 269,000 in the week ending Oct. 30 as the labor market continues to improve and the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday shows a 14,000 claim decrease compared to the week ending Oct. 23, when jobless claims dropped to 283,000. Thursday’s release marks the lowest number of initial claims since March 14, 2020, when the number of new jobless claims was 256,000.
Economists surveyed believed jobless claims would decrease to 275,000 during the week ended Oct. 30, The Wall Street Journal reported. Claims have fallen for the last several weeks while the labor market continues to tighten.
“We expect jobless claims to continue to decline as the labor market continues to improve,” Daniel Zhao, an economist at Glassdoor, told the WSJ. “It’s a reacceleration of the economy after Delta.”
The U.S. economy recorded an increase of 194,000 in September when the unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Oct. 8. A record 4.3 million Americans left their jobs in August, though, as workers sought jobs with higher wages, more flexible hours and better working conditions, The Washington Post reported.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to announce that the U.S. economy is will add 450,000 jobs in October, an upward spike from the jobs added in September, according to the WSJ. The unemployment rate is projected to fall from 4.8% to 4.7% for September.
Private firms’ payrolls increased by 571,000 in October, exceeding economists’ projections of 395,000, as hiring continues to heat up throughout the country, according to the ADP National Employment Report. October’s figure is a slight increase from the 523,000 jobs added in September.
“The job market is revving back up as the Delta-wave of the pandemic winds down,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said in the ADP report.
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Harry Wilmerding is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Unemployment Insurance Claims Office” by Bytemarks. CC BY 2.0.
Numbers sound good but the labor participation rate is only 61%. Lots of potential workers sitting on the sidelines. I have to wonder how many of them are Moms who decided being at home with the kids is more important than working outside the home. I applaud those that have made that decision.