Earlier this month, the number of Americans
seeking unemployment benefits fell to its lowest
level in nearly 50 years — evidence of a strong job
market and an unusually low level of layoffs.
Weekly applications for jobless aid dropped 8,000
to a seasonally adjusted
196,000 in the first week of
April. That was the lowest
level since 1969.
Yet the decline isn’t due
solely to a tight employment
picture. Many states
have imposed stricter rules
on their unemployment
insurance programs —
from making it harder to
qualify to reducing the
duration of benefits to
cutting payouts.
Nine states have cut the number of weeks that
recipients can receive unemployment benefits.
Research by Moody’s Analytics late last year found
that such cuts discourage many people from
applying. Nationally, just 30% of people out of work
now receive unemployment
insurance, down from about
40% before the Great
Recession.
Still, super-low
unemployment claims are a
positive sign for growth. The
figures suggest that some
economic concerns —
global weakness, a
U.S.-China trade war and
slower-growing consumer
spending — haven’t caused
employers to cut jobs