Jobless claims sink

Number hits lowest level in 43 years

Washington — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in more than 43 years, another sign that most American workers enjoy job security.

The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that 234,000 Americans sought jobless aid, a drop of 15,000 from the previous week and the lowest since November 1973. The four-week average, which is less volatile, fell by 10,250, to 246,750, also the lowest since November 1973. The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits was 2.05 million, down 7.7% from a year earlier.

Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have now come in below 300,000 for 98 straight weeks. The low totals suggest that businesses are confident about their prospects that they are holding onto staff.

The unemployment rate last month came in at 4.7%, close to what economists consider full employment.

Employers aren’t cutting many jobs, but their hiring has slowed. They added 180,000 jobs a month last year, down from an average 229,000 in 2015.

Still, Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a research note that job growth is still “more than strong enough to keep the unemployment rate trending down.”

The unemployment rate in Wisconsin ticked down a tenth of a point in December, hitting 4.0%.

It was the lowest Wisconsin jobless rate since January 2001, the State Department of Workforce Development said. Unemployment in Wisconsin has trended downward since peaking at 9.2% in December 2009 and January 2010.

All of the figures are adjusted to reflect regular seasonal fluctuations in employment. The latest December numbers are preliminary.