Jobless claims fall to lowest since 1970
Applications for unemployment benefits inched down last week as the total number of Americans collecting aid fell to its lowest level in more than 50 years.
Jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 184,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which levels out week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,500 to 177,250.
About 1.42 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits in the week of April 9, the fewest since Feb. 21, 1970.
Two years after the coronavirus pandemic plunged the economy into a brief but devastating recession, American workers are enjoying extraordinary job security. Weekly applications for unemployment aid, which broadly track with layoffs, have remained consistently below the pre-pandemic level of 225,000.
Last year, employers added a record 6.7 million jobs, and they've added an average of 560,000 more each month so far in 2022. The unemployment rate, which soared to 14.7% in April 2020 in the depths of the COVID-19 recession, is now just 3.6%, barely above the lowest point in 50 years. And there is a record proportion of 1.7 job openings for every unemployed American.
A first: Delta flight attendants to get paid during boarding
Delta Air Lines, which has narrowly fought off several attempts to unionize its flight attendants, will begin paying cabin crews during boarding, a change that is expected to increase their wages by several thousand dollars a year.
It is a notable change for U.S. airlines, where pay for flight attendants starts when all the passengers are seated and the plane's doors close.
Delta said the change will start June 2 on all flights. In a memo to flight attendants, the airline said the new pay “further recognizes how important your role is on board to ensuring a welcoming, safe and on-time start to each flight.”
The change comes as Delta plans to increase the boarding time for single-aisle or “narrowbody” planes from 35 minutes to 40 minutes, which the airline expects will increase the percentage of flights that depart on time.
Delta's pilots are represented by a union, but several attempts to organize the flight attendants have failed in the face of fierce opposition by the Atlantabased company.
The Association of Flight Attendants, which has been gearing up an organizing campaign at Delta for more than two years, took credit for the boarding pay.
`Electrified' Corvette heading to consumers next year
General Motors says it will offer an electrified Chevrolet Corvette as early as next year.
President Mark Reuss said in a statement on LinkedIn Monday that the automaker will also sell a fully electric Corvette sometime in the future.
An electrified vehicle generally means a gas-electric hybrid or a plug-in rechargeable hybrid, but more details on the vehicles are expected at a later date. Interest in electric vehicles is increasing among consumers as demand for an electric Corvette has been building among the sports car's fan base.
Earlier in April, GM and Honda announced that they are planning to codevelop some affordable electric vehicles that will use GM's next-generation Ultium battery technology.
The vehicles will include a compact Chevrolet Equinox SUV that will sell for around $30,000. It's expected to go on sale in North America next year.
In January GM said that it plans to spend nearly $7 billion to convert a factory to make electric pickup trucks and to build a new battery cell plant.