America Sees Lowest Jobless Claims In 44 Years

ola olugbemi | October 19, 2017
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Want to hear some good news?

In the second week of October, initial jobless claims in the U.S. dropped from 244,000 to 222,000, marking the lowest jobless numbers since March of 1973.

The Washington Examiner reported that the finally tally surprised economists, who'd predicted that claims would be around 240,000.

American citizens can take comfort in knowing that these numbers speak volumes for the future of job growth. The new number suggests that layoffs have declined, the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell by a historic 16,000 to just 1.89 million, and most states are showing signs of a strong economic stability.

Although statistics from MarketWatch showed a spike in jobless claims after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the storms were not enough to keep people out of the workforce for long, as claims are back to normal in both Texas and Florida. Puerto Rico is also expected to project relatively low unemployment numbers, even though the island remains plagued by widespread power outages, making it difficult for people to file unemployment claims.

Despite the literal and figurative storms that nailed America this past year, the future of U.S. economic expansion is looking bright with its lowest unemployment rate since 2000 at 4.2 percent, and a labor force twice as large as it was in 1973.

Well done, America. Well done. 

(Cover photo: Flickr/www.flazingo.com)

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