US jobless claims are falling for the fourth week in a row

The US Labor Department said today that jobless claims in the United States fell by 38,000 to 406,000, seasonally adjusted, for the week ending May 22, the lowest level since mid-March 2020, the fourth consecutive weekly decline.

Analysts had expected US jobless claims to register 425,000 applications last week, and continuing jobless claims decreased by 96,000 to 3,642 million for the week ending May 15th.

The US economy added 266,000 jobs in April after adding 770,000 jobs in March, and Republican governors in 23 states announced the end of federal government-funded unemployment programs next month as they discourage the unemployed from looking for work.