What does the recent jobless claims say about the US labor market?

[John Naronha]

[Ignatius Bose]

US jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 212,000 in the week to May 11th, according to the US Department of Labour’s latest weekly unemployment data, indicating that the labor market continues to remain robust in spite of the ongoing trade tensions with China. The seasonally-adjusted initial claims came in at 212,000 from the previous week’s 228,000 with the 4-week average rising by 4,750 to 225,000. The number of insured unemployed on the other hand fell by 28,000 to 1.66 million for the week ending May 4th, bringing the insured unemployment rate to 1.2 percent for the corresponding period.

The applications for weekly jobless benefits announced on Thursday are the lowest in a month with the US labor market continuing to remain resilient on the back of the lowest unemployment rate in five decades, even as it looks to set the record for the longest expansion in history.