US jobless claims fall

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped a little more than expected last week, indicating that the job market recovery is picking up steam.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 in the week ended February 19, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters predicted 235,000 requests for the last week.

Orders had risen in the week ended Feb. 12, which economists attributed to weekly volatility in the data and the delayed impact of winter storms seen earlier in the month in the United States.

With 10.9 million job openings at the end of December, layoffs are few and economists expect aid claims to fall below 200,000 in the coming weeks. They even dropped below that level at the beginning of last December.

Claims for unemployment benefits fell from a record high of 6.149 million reached in early April 2020. Tighter labor market conditions are boosting wage growth, which contributes to high inflation.

A separate Commerce Department report confirmed on Thursday that U.S. economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter as the negative pressure triggered by a jump in U.S. summer Covid-19 infections eased.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 7.0% in the last quarter of last year, the government said in its second GDP estimate. This was slightly above the previously reported 6.9% pace. The economy grew 2.3% in the third quarter.

The economic impetus, however, appeared to have faded in December amid the strong wave of coronavirus infections, fueled by the omicron variant of the coronavirus. But activity has since recovered as cases have declined in the country.