Initial jobless claims in US down
The number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending April 30 declined 92,000 compared to the previous week’s revised figure of 590,000 to 498,000, beating market expectations, the US Labor Department unveiled on Thursday. The reported level is the lowest since March 14 of last year, where it stood at 256,000. The previous week’s level was upped to 590,000, an increase of 37,000. Meanwhile, the 4-week moving average dropped 61,000 from the previous week’s revised average to 560,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending April 24, remaining unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. Insurance unemployment during the same week increased by 37,000 from the week-over-week revised level to 3,690,000.
US job cuts down to 22,913 in April
Job cuts in the United States in April decreased 25% when compared to the previous month to 22,913, a report published by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. on Thursday showed. This is the lowest monthly total since June 2000 and equates to a year-on-year decline of 96.6%. Senior Vice President Andrew Challenger stated: “The good news is that employers are no longer undergoing massive cuts, consumers are beginning to feel safe traveling and spending, and the number of job openings is edging higher. The bad news is we’re experiencing a labor shortage despite millions of Americans still out of work.”