Jobless claims in the U.S. over the past four weeks dropped to the lowest they have been in almost 15 years, according to data from the Labor Department.
An average of 282,250 Americans per week filed for unemployment from the middle of March through April 4, the fewest number of applicants since June 2000.
Almost all of the metropolitan areas (366 out of 387) had lower unemployment rates in February than the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The national unemployment rate in February was 5.8% compared to 7% February of last year.
Lincoln, Neb. was the metropolitan area with lowest unemployment rate in February at only 2.7%. El Centro, Calif. had the highest jobless rate at 20%.
Though the unemployment rate has stayed lower, the number of available jobs did not change much from January to February.
As of the last day of February, there were 5.1 million open positions in the U.S., according to the BLS, compared to 5 million the month before.
The number of Americans hired also changed very little from January to February. Economists believe that the harsh winter weather may have impacted the slower hiring numbers.
However, the number of layoffs decreased to 7.6%, the lowest they have been in the past 16 months, which may have been a major contributing factor to the lower unemployment rates.
The decreased number of layoffs shows that job security in the U.S. is also improving.
Economists say that the lower number of jobless claims point to signs that the labor market is improving, according to Bloomberg Business.
