the numbers new filings for us unemployment benefits fell to a 53year low of 166000 in midapril during a period of remarkably strong hiring and the lowest layoffs on record initial jobless claims declined by 5000 from a revised 171000 in the prior week the labor department said thursday economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast initial jobless claims to total a seasonally adjusted 200000 in the seven days ended april 2 but the estimate did not factor in government revisions going back five years the revisions showed jobless claims to be even lower this year than previously reported the 171000 reading from last week for example was revised from an original 202000 starting next week the government will also change how it estimates jobless claims it will use a hybrid approach that incorporates its old methodology before the pandemic with adjustments made during the crisis to try to make the data more accurate big picture the us jobs market is hopping literally millions of americans are quitting one job and hopping to another in search of higher pay better benefits or more flexibility such as working from home it’s great news for workers ages are rising at the fastest pace in decades not so much for businesses their costs are going up and they still can’t find enough labor to produce enough goods and services to meet high demand a strong labor market is a buffer against recession however market reaction the dow jones industrial average djia and sp 500 spx were set to open lower in thursday trades