New Unemployment Claims Fall to Near 49-Year Low in U.S.
The Labor Department reported that initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 203,000 for the week ended Sept. 1. That is the lowest level it has been since December 1969.
Private payrolls rose steadily in August, and the sustained labor market strength suggests continued economic growth is ahead. Those factors also add up to the Federal Reserve likely remaining on its course of raising interest rates. The money policy group is expected to do so again this month, which would be the third bump this year.
Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York, told Reuters, “The economy is in overdrive with jobless claims at lows not seen since the 1960s, and this gives the Fed the green light to raise interest rates later this month and take away some of the economy’s punch.”
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 18 were in New Jersey (2.5), Connecticut (2.2), Pennsylvania (2.0), Puerto Rico (1.9), Rhode Island (1.9), Alaska (1.8), California (1.8), Illinois (1.5), Massachusetts (1.5), and New York (1.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 25 were in New York (+4,853), Michigan (+927), Pennsylvania (+582), Washington (+556), and Oregon (+364). The largest decreases were in California (-1,432), New Jersey (-905), Georgia (-532), Ohio (-365), and North Carolina (-214).
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