Initial jobless claims drop to lowest level in over 50 years

Initial jobless claims plunged to a new pandemic low last week, "performing better than economists expected" while the strong labor market recovery continues, Forbes reports Thursday.

New claims in the week ending March 19 fell 28,000 from the previous week to 187,000, their lowest level since September 1969. According to Bloomberg data, Forbes writes, economists had been expecting the total to be around 210,000.

Continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline number, meanwhile dropped below 1.4 million, reaching their lowest level since January 1970.

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The tight market "may push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by half a percentage point at its next policy meeting in May," writes Reuters. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Monday called for the central bank to "expeditiously" raise rates.

So far, there are "no signs" the war in Ukraine has impacted the U.S. labor market, Reuters notes.