The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that the number of unemployed persons in the United States edged down to 6.3 million, an unemployment rate of 3.8%, during the month of February.
"U.S. businesses are not laying off workers because they know the enormous challenges they're facing in filling open positions," Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Penn., told Reuters. "If initial claims remain below 200,000 for a period of time, it will raise a red flag with the Fed."
In February 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BLS reported the unemployment rate to be 3.5%, and the number of unemployed persons was 5.7 million. For the week ending March 19, initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000.
This is the lowest level since September 1969, as reported by NBC News.
"This morning, we learned that new unemployment claims are now at a level not seen since 1969," President Joe Biden said in a March 24 Twitter post. "America’s historic economic recovery is strong. Americans are getting back to work."
The national unemployment situation for the month of March is scheduled to be released on Friday, April 1.
