U.S. Layoffs Are Near A 57-Year Low. But Finding a Job is Increasingly Hard for Many.

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits have fallen to one of their lowest levels in more than five decades, but a closer look at the labor market reveals a difficult reality for Americans who are searching for work.

Initial claims dropped by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 194,000 in the week ending Oct. 17, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor. That was the lowest reading since July, when claims reached 189,000, a level not seen since 1969.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, declined to 197,750. While fewer Americans are filing new claims, the number continuing to receive unemployment benefits increased by 25,000 to 1.728 million in the week ending on October 10.

The figures measure different aspects of the labor market. Initial claims track newly filed applications for unemployment insurance, while continuing claims count people still collecting benefits after their initial applications.

The latest monthly employment figures offer a clearer picture of the difficulties some job seekers face.

Approximately 1.94 million Americans had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer in September, representing 27.1% of all unemployed workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' September employment report.

The number was little changed from August, but it means more than one in four unemployed Americans had been without work for at least six months.

Overall, 7.1 million people were unemployed in September, with the national unemployment rate holding at 4.2%.

Employers added just 29,000 nonfarm payroll jobs during the month, considerably below the pace recorded during the rapid recovery from the pandemic.

The relatively low level of new claims therefore tells only part of the story. Businesses are not dismissing workers in large numbers, but employment growth has also been limited.

Separate data from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey show that employers made approximately 5.2 million hires in August, with the hiring rate at 3.3%.

That rate measures hiring as a share of employment and is different from the number of positions advertised.

The survey recorded approximately 7.1 million job openings at the end of August, little changed from the previous month. Meanwhile, the number of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs remained at 3.1 million, with a quits rate of 1.9%.

The combination of relatively stable openings and modest hiring indicates that advertised vacancies are not necessarily translating into rapid recruitment.

The openings figure is a snapshot of unfilled positions on the last business day of the month, while hiring covers activity throughout the entire month. The two totals should not be treated as a direct measure of how many applicants secured jobs.

The difficulty of finding work can vary significantly by industry. In August, the financial activities sector recorded 169,000 hires, with a hiring rate of 1.9%. The information sector, which includes several technology-related businesses, reported 68,000 hires and a 2.5% hiring rate.

Retail trade, by comparison, recorded 678,000 hires, equivalent to 4.4% of employment in that sector. The differences illustrate why the national hiring rate does not necessarily reflect the opportunities available to someone searching for a particular type of job.

A worker leaving an industry with limited hiring may face different prospects from someone seeking employment in a sector with relatively high turnover.

The same BLS report showed that employers recorded approximately 1.6 million layoffs and discharges in August, essentially unchanged from July.

That monthly figure includes involuntary departures across the labor market and is not directly comparable with weekly unemployment insurance claims. Job seekers are also confronting a labor market in which total employment is expanding slowly.

September's 29,000 payroll increase followed a year of uneven employment growth, while the unemployment rate remained within a narrow range of 4.1% to 4.3% from March through September.

The next BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, covering September, is scheduled for Nov. 3. It will provide another reading on whether employers are increasing recruitment or continuing to maintain existing staffing levels without making substantial new hires.