The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the U.S. reached a 15-year low last week.
According to USA Today, the number of people requesting unemployment payments dropped by 34,000 to 262,000 over the course of a week. The source noted that this number is still preliminary, but if it does not undergo future adjustments, it is the lowest amount of unemployment applications the U.S. has seen since April of 2000, when the number of residents looking for this type of assistance hit a low of 259,000. The source explained that since unemployment applications are typically indicative of layoffs, this drop is a promising precursor to April’s impending employment report.
The Associated Press noted that March’s stable yet largely mediocre employment situation had both economists and workers wondering whether the country’s trend of job growth was coming to an end. This promising data concerning unemployment applications, however, appears to show that March’s report was simply a glitch that came about as a result of various temporary factors. The source pointed to the harsh winter and lower oil prices as events that may have temporarily slowed job growth last month.