The number of new applications for unemployment insurance fell last week to 444,000, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department, setting a new post-lockdown low for initial weekly jobless claims.
In the week ending May 15, first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 34,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 478,000. For the sixth consecutive week, initial jobless claims hit their lowest level since March 14, 2020, when the final jobless claims report was released before the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the U.S. economy.
The steady decline of jobless claims is an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy amid intense debate over why many businesses have reported trouble hiring new workers. The conflict over jobless benefits boiled over earlier this month after the April jobs report fell far short of expectations, showing a gain of 266,000 jobs despite projections of more than 1 million jobs created.
More than a dozen Republican governors have taken steps to end expanded jobless benefits before they are set to expire in September, claiming they’ve given workers a financial incentive to stay home. Many economists and Democratic lawmakers counter that a lack of child care options, health concerns and industry-specific issues are playing greater roles.
“After more than a year of the pandemic, the U.S. labor market is steadily returning to normal, with programs like unemployment benefits having played a major role in preventing poverty among the jobless. But rather than allowing workers a chance to receive critical aid until jobs have more widely returned, policymakers have left the unemployed fully on their own, creating bigger gaps between the haves and have-nots,” said Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.