Jobless claims rose to 200,000 last week, highest level since February
Economists expected jobless claims to total 182,000 last week
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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, hitting the highest level since February as soaring inflation and a persistent labor shortage weighed on businesses.
Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show that applications for the week ended April 30 climbed to 200,000 from an upwardly revised 181,000 a week earlier, missing the 182,000 forecast by Refinitiv analysts.
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Continuing claims, or the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment aid, fell to 1.38 million, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week.
A large "Now Hiring" advertisement posted on the windows of the Advance Auto Parts store in Bay Shore, New York, on March 24, 2022. (Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The report shows that roughly 1.47 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits for the week ending April 16, a modest decrease from the previous week; by comparison, just a little over one year ago, more than 16.1 million Americans were receiving benefits.
Claims have largely moderated as the economy recovers from the pandemic and Americans venture out to travel, shop and eat. Businesses have struggled to keep up with the demand, however, and have reported difficulties in onboarding new employees. Despite the slight uptick in claims, Thursday's report suggests that companies are making an effort to retain the workers they already have.
Earlier this week, the Labor Department reported that 4.5 million Americans, or about 3% of the workforce, quit their jobs in March. That's up from 4.4 million in February and just slightly tops the previous record notched in November. By comparison, pre-pandemic levels typically hovered around 3.6 million. Meanwhile, the number of job openings rose to 11.5 million by the end of March.
Volunteers hand out food during the food distribution in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 13, 2021. (Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Thursday report also showed that worker productivity fell at the steepest pace since 1947 in the first quarter of the year, while growth in unit labor costs surged – underscoring how rising wage pressures could continue to fuel sky-high inflation.
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Nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, plunged at a 7.5% annualized rate in the first three months of the year. Data for the end of 2021 was also revised slightly lower to show that productivity grew at a 6.3% rate, down from the originally reported 6.6%.