Claims For US Jobless Benefits Bounce Up 53,000 To 253,000

[ThunderBlade + 231]

The number of Americans applying for unemployment checks hit the highest mark since September 2017, but they’re still low enough that most workers continue to enjoy job security. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for jobless aid rose by 53,000 last week to 253,000 from a 49-year low 200,000 the week before. The four-week average, which is less volatile, rose by 5,000 to 220,250. The number of federal workers seeking unemployment benefits fell 42 percent, to 14,739. A 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government ended last week. Claims are a proxy for layoffs. Unemployment has dropped to 3.9 percent. Employers last month went on a hiring spree and added 312,000 jobs. The January jobs report, out Friday, is expected to show they began 2019 by hiring 165,000.

[rainman + 263]

Probably it's because of the shutdown? That's a big jump...

[50 shades of black + 254]

Isn’t that just the post holidays hump?

[Pavel + 384]

Once people are employed, they then focus of quality of life. I believe that is bad news for administration.

[pinto + 293]

It's a bad sign and usually it means that economy is failing ..

[ronwagn + 6,290]

11 hours ago, ThunderBlade said:

The number of Americans applying for unemployment checks hit the highest mark since September 2017, but they’re still low enough that most workers continue to enjoy job security. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for jobless aid rose by 53,000 last week to 253,000 from a 49-year low 200,000 the week before. The four-week average, which is less volatile, rose by 5,000 to 220,250. The number of federal workers seeking unemployment benefits fell 42 percent, to 14,739. A 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government ended last week. Claims are a proxy for layoffs. Unemployment has dropped to 3.9 percent. Employers last month went on a hiring spree and added 312,000 jobs. The January jobs report, out Friday, is expected to show they began 2019 by hiring 165,000.

4% is considered full employment by most economists I believe. There are always people in between jobs. Some are barely employable. The population is probably about 33% higher than it was 49 years ago also. https://www.populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/1969/ 

United States of America 

 

1969

Population: 207,599,308

 

According to the US Census Bureau's population clock, the estimated 2018 United States population (February 2018) is 327.16 million. This is a bit higher than the 329.09 million estimated by the United Nations.Nov 21, 2018

That may not include all the illegal aliens that have not been counted since the last census. Trump is trying to get a real figure on them. The next census may be a lot higher than expected. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by ronwagn
added reference