Number of Americans Filing for Unemployment Benefits on the Decline

Data published by the Labor Department on Thursday revealed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits is on the decline.

Applications for unemployment benefits have been <300,000 for 123 straight weeks, the longest run since the 1970s https://t.co/GVFhHwPG3T pic.twitter.com/99mPoFyMpv

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) July 14, 2017

A Thursday report from the Labor Department highlighted a drop in the amount of Americans that are filing for unemployment benefits. According to the report, the economy has gained sufficient momentum to generate some inflation and shows overall signs of strengthening.

The report revealed that initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 3,000 for the week that ended July 8. According to labor market measures, this is the 123rd straight week that the application threshold has remained below 300,000, which is associated by economists with a healthy labor market.

“It remains hard for companies to hire skilled workers. Inflation isn’t slip-sliding away from the Fed’s goal,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. “We expect they are on track to announce the start of the balance sheet unwind in September and go for the last of three rate hikes planned for this year in December.”

The report provided a jobless rate of 4.4 percent, which signals a labor market that is close to full employment.

Data published last week revealed that the U.S. economy produced 222,000 jobs in June, which is the second biggest payroll increase for 2017.

A separate report from the Labor Department revealed that the producer price index is up 0.1 percent for the month of June, following little to no movement in the PPI in May.

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com