National Archives This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.

“In recent months, [unemployment benefits] claims have been the brightest among a number of labor statistics that suggest that the jobs market is red hot.”

Total jobless claims running at lowest level in 44 years
By Joseph Lawler
Washington Examiner
June 7, 2018

The total number of workers receiving unemployment benefits is running at the lowest levels in 44 years, the Department of Labor reported Thursday in more encouraging news about the economy.

Over the most recent month, the total number of workers getting benefits fell to 1.73 million, the lowest such number since December of 1973, when the labor force was much smaller. In comparison, more than 6 million workers were getting such claims during the worst of the recession.

Low numbers of unemployment insurance beneficiaries are a good sign. They suggest that layoffs are rare and that laid-off workers are able to get jobs more easily.

Read the full article here.