The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment statistics on Thursday. It showed that 553,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on April 24th. This is less than in any week since early last year. But it is still far too many -- about twice as many that would file in a healthy economy.
Here is the official statement from the Labor Department:
In the week ending April 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 553,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 19,000 from 547,000 to 566,000. The 4-week moving average was 611,750, a decrease of 44,000 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 4,750 from 651,000 to 655,750.
