Jobless Claims Stay Near Historic Lows Ahead of April Jobs Report

Job creation, for the most part, has been concentrated in health care, with more than 400,000 new positions since March 2025.

A now hiring sign during Black Friday at a mall in Hanover, Md., on Nov. 29, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits remained historically low last week ahead of the April jobs report.

For the week ending May 2, initial jobless claims rose by 10,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 200,000, according to new Department of Labor data released on May 7. Economists had penciled in a reading of 205,000.