The number of people applying for new unemployment-insurance benefits fell nationally and in New York State in the latest week, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report issued Thursday.
Advance data provided by New York indicates that its jobless claims likely fell by 2,398, or 13 percent, to 15,780 in the week ending April 16.
This follows a decline of 2,217, or 11 percent, in filed jobless claims in the week ending April 9. The Empire State reported the second biggest increase in filed unemployment-insurance applications of all 50 states that week. Fewer layoffs in New York’s transportation and warehousing, accommodation and food service, and health care and social assistance industries led the drop, according to the Labor Department. The state data is not seasonally adjusted.
Nationally, seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims fell by 6,000 to 247,000 in the week ending April 16, from the previous week’s total of 253,000, the Labor Department reported.
That’s the lowest level for jobless claims in the U.S. since November 1973, according to the agency. It’s also the 59th straight week in which the number of claims was below 300,000, a key indicator of labor-market health.
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