In our latest edition of, “Jobless Thursday,” initial unemployment claims fell to 547,000, a pandemic low, and the first unemployment report since the shutdown that can be described as normal recession levels, as opposed to, “Disaster of biblical proportions ……… Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God ……… Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling ……… Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes ……… The dead rising from the grave ……… Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria,” levels.

So the employment outlook is now beginning to look like a recession:

Worker filings for jobless benefits declined to 547,000 last week, a new pandemic low that adds to evidence of a strengthening labor market and overall economic recovery.

Initial unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell 39,000 last week from an upwardly revised 586,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That put new claims on a seasonally adjusted basis below 600,000 for two consecutive weeks in mid-April, their lowest levels since early 2020. The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility in the weekly figures, was 651,000, also a pandemic low.

The median sales price for previously owned homes climbed to a record high in March as a shortage of homes during the pandemic limited transactions, the National Association of Realtors said separately. Existing-home sales dropped 3.7% in March from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.01 million, marking the second straight month of sales declines.

Jobless claims remain higher than their pre-pandemic levels—the weekly average in 2019 was about 218,000—but last week’s drop extended a downward trend since the start of this year and raised expectations for further declines in coming weeks.

I hope that the powers that be won’t take their foot off the accelerator pedal. 

The claims rate is still too damn high.