Unemployment filings hit a 55-year low

Unemployment filings fell to their lowest level since 1969 last week, dropping by 22,000 claims. But as Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal put it, the proximate cause of that data point requires an exercise familiar to anyone who deals with economic numbers: "Huh, what do you suppose that means?"

What falling jobless claims actually tell us

The headline number is striking. First-time unemployment claims hit an absolute low not seen since Richard Nixon was president—when the labor force was far smaller. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman reported that the conventional interpretation would be a strong labor market: layoffs are extra low, and those who do lose work find new jobs so fast they barely file for benefits.

But Michelle Evermore at the National Employment Law Project pushed back. Fewer people filing for unemployment doesn't necessarily mean fewer people are losing jobs or struggling. Many states now offer less than 26 weeks of benefits, eligibility rules have tightened, and unemployment checks are anemic. "Low and falling jobless claims doesn't mean we have a robust and healthy labor market," she said. It's a "low hire, low fire" environment—decent if you already have a job, but not necessarily a sign of dynamism.