A man walks past a sign advertising a job at a fast food restaurant on November 5, 2021 in New York.
Spencer Platt Getty Images
Initial applications for unemployment insurance amounted to 215,000, the lowest total since the beginning of the year and less than Wall Street estimates, the Labor Ministry said on Thursday.
Economists polled by Dow Jones were looking for applications for the first time to a total of 225,000 for the week ended Feb. 26.
A separate report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the productivity of non-agricultural producers increased by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, slightly less than the estimate of 6.7%. However, unit labor costs increased by 0.9%, much more than the expected 0.3%.
As for unemployment applications, the total number last week was 18,000 compared to the previous week and the lowest since 1 January.
Ongoing claims, one week after the headline, rose to 1.48 million. However, the four-week moving average, which smoothed weekly volatility, fell to 1.54 million, the lowest level since April 4, 1970.
The total number of recipients of benefits under all programs decreased further, falling to 1.97 million, a decrease of 62,625.
Unemployment figures come a day before the closely monitored BLS report on wages in non-agricultural sectors. Wall Street is looking for a profit of 440,000 in February, following a much stronger than expected total of 467,000 in January.
Companies are still trying to fill nearly 11 million jobs at a time when labor shortages have expanded to unprecedented levels. There are about 4.4 million more jobs than there are unemployed jobseekers.
Wages rose in the current environment, with average hourly wages rising 5.7 percent in January, well above anything seen in the middle before the pandemic, according to the Labor Ministry about 15 years ago.
Labor costs per unit of output continued to rise in the last three months of 2021, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, largely due to the jump in productivity. The 7.5% increase in hourly compensation was largely offset by a 6.6% increase in productivity. For the whole year, unit labor costs increased by 3.6%, a decrease of 4.3% profit in 2020.
Federal Reserve politicians are on track to tackle inflation with an expected series of interest rate hikes.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday called the labor market “extremely tight” and said he expects the first rate hike to come to a policy meeting later this month.