Those looking for signs that America’s economy is improving will find them in the rate of jobless claims and overall optimism about the country’s state of employment.
Newly released reports indicate that jobless claims are down to better-than-expected levels while optimism about the country’s job market is on the rise.
Jobless Claims on the Decline
One of the biggest indicators of America’s economic health is found in the number of new jobless claims filed weekly.
The country has seen improvement in this arena that trumps economists’ forecasts with job additions even reaching performance levels not witnessed since the recession began.
While economists anticipated jobless claims would fall to 293,000 in the week ending Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Labor reported numbers that were more promising. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 283,000.
The four-week moving average of jobless claims is also showing signs of improvement. That number fell 6,500 to 283,250 during the week ending Feb. 14.
Overall, the economy has witnessed the addition of more than a million jobs in the past three months. This is the best performance marked since the pre-recession days of 1997.
Optimism is Growing
Perceptions about the economy are also growing more positive, the Pew Research Center has found.
In a survey conducted Feb. 5-8, involving some 1,003 adults, researchers discovered that since the first time since the recession ended in 2009, 28% of respondents say they are hearing most good news about the job situation.
Only 22% said they heard mainly bad news while 47% reported hearing a mix of both.
Pew researchers say this marks a dramatic change from just a year ago when only 12% reported hearing good news related to the job market and 42% reported negative perceptions.
Positive views about the overall economy are also on the rise, Pew found, but noted that 62% of people continue to describe the news as mixed.
February’s survey, however, showed that for the first time since the question began being tracked in December 2008, about the same amount of people (18%) say they are hearing mostly good news as those saying they are hearing bad news (17%).
At least in regard to the job market, economists seem to believe the news will continue to be positive.
“We have crossed the dividing line where there are more signs of labor shortages now than there is an excess supply of discouraged workers pounding the pavement,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG Union Bank in New York told Reuters.
