US initial jobless claims continued their fall in the week ended June 5, the US Department of Labor reported. Jobless claims fell by 9,000 to a total of 376,000. It was another post-pandemic low — there were 265,000 claims on March 14, 2020, before the full impact of Covid-19.
Reuters reported economists had forecast a decline of 370,000 claims and today’s numbers mark the sixth straight week of declines in the number of initial jobless claims as employers compete for labor.
The four-week moving average of jobless claims also fell with a week-over-week decline of 25,500 in the week ended June 5 for an average of 402,500. That was another post-pandemic low; the average was 225,500 in the week ended March 14, 2020.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims, which are not seasonally adjusted, fell by 1,957 to a total of 71,292. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program claims include self-employed workers, among others.