Weekly Jobless Claims Down Slightly April 13, 2017

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The number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits continued to decline last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. The number of newly unemployed workers for the week ended April 8 came to 234,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 234,000 to 235,000. The 4-week moving average was 247,250, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average. Weekly initial jobless claims are tracking at levels last seen in 1973, according to the Federal Reserve.

The latest news on the employment front follows last week's disappointing monthly jobs report. Only 98,000 net jobs were added in March, largely as a result of an East Coast blizzard during the survey period. Also, some construction hires came earlier this year, given abnormally warm weather in January and February. Average monthly job gains for the first quarter of 2017: 178,000, not too far from Kiplinger's forecast of 175,000, on average, for the full year.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.5% in March. This is the lowest since 2007, when it hit 4.4%. The rate will likely end 2017 at 4.5%, but next year it should head down more, nearing 4%, by Kiplinger's estimates.

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In other signs of labor market tightening: The number of long-term unemployed individuals declined, along with the number of people working part-time who want to work full-time. The unemployed and underemployed together totaled 8.9% of the labor force. That’s still above the 2007 low of 8.0%, but a far cry from the peak of 17.1% in early 2010.

Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the publication full time in 2016.

A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and other tier 1 national publications. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among many other outlets. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.

In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about markets and macroeconomics.

Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.

Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.