Jobless claims reverse, fall to new post-lockdown low of 360K

The number of new applications for jobless benefits fell to a new post-lockdown low last week, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

In the week ending July 10, seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 360,000, down by 26,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 386,000.

After rising in the previous week, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since March 14, 2020 — when claims totaled 225,000 shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic shattered the economy.

Another 96,362 Americans applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), an extended jobless aid program created in March 2020 and extended through September. More than two dozen states have pulled out of PUA in a bid to push more workers into jobs.

As of June 26, there were more than 13.8 million Americans on some form of jobless aid, less than half of the 30.6 million on unemployment benefits during the same week last year.

Jobless claims are expected to fall further as the U.S. continues to add jobs and a range of enhanced unemployment aid programs expire Sept. 6. While 24 governors have pulled out of PUA and many of those programs sooner, experts say there is no apparent effect on employment in those states.

The U.S. is still 6.8 million jobs down from February 2020 despite a record 9.2 million job openings, and the pace of hiring has fallen short of some economists’ expectations. Even so, White House and Federal Reserve officials have expressed confidence that the labor market recovery will soon pick up speed.

“There clearly is a very, very high level of demand for people to come into these jobs, and for whatever reason people are taking a little bit of time to look maybe for a better job,” said Fed Chair Jerome Powell during a House hearing Wednesday.

“We’re kind of finding out as we go but I really do think, come back in six months, there’ll be a whole lot of these people back to work and wages will have moved up a little bit.”

Updated at 9:04 a.m.