Should Biden be thanked?
In good news for Americans, weekly unemployment insurance claims have dipped to levels last seen in 1968.
According to data released by the Labor Department, in the week ending April 2, seasonally-adjusted jobless claims dropped to roughly 166,000, declining by 3 percent from the previous week.
This data is the second-lowest jobless claim week on record, only being exceeded by the lowest week on record, which occurred in the week ending November 30, 1968, when the department only recorded 162,000 jobless claims.
This latest data from the Department of Labor also revises the previous week’s seasonally adjusted total of jobless claims by 31,000. Before, the Department of Labor reported 202,000 jobless claims but revised that to 171,000.
The drastic revision can be attributed to the Labor Department’s new seasonal adjustments that also take into consideration the effects of the pandemic.
Without seasonal adjustments, jobless claims only declined by 1.9 percent (or 3,674) from the previous week.
This latest decline follows a similar downward trend since the Omicron surge in January.
The figures are spurred by companies opting out of laying off workers, even those hired for seasonal roles, as job openings outnumber job seekers 2 to 1.
Despite the significant nature of these figures and Democrats counting on this rebound after a pandemic-driven recession to retain their majorities, their hopes will have their hopes dashed. Instead of Americans focusing on record-low unemployment, most are focused on record-high inflation and skyrocketing gas prices, which will dampen Democrats’ chances of using reduced unemployment to hold on to their majorities.
