Key takeaways: 

• New applications for U.S. unemployed help fell to a 52-1/2-year low the previous week. At the same time, the number of Americans on unemployment rolls persisted in shrinking, pointing to a rapidly declining labor market space that will keep wages inflation increasing.
• Initial claims for state unemployment advantages dropped 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 for the week ended March 19, the most down level since September 1969, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
• Claims have fallen from a record high of 6.149 million in early April 2020.
• The unemployment rate slipped to a two-year low of 3.8% in February.

New applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell to a 52-1/2-year low the prior week. At the same time, the number of Americans on unemployment registrations continued to shrink, pointing to rapidly reducing labor market space that will keep pay inflation increasing.

Initial claims for state unemployment advantages dropped 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 for the week ended March 19, the most down level since September 1969, the Labor Department said on Thursday. 

Economists surveyed by Reuters had predicted 212,000 applications for the latest week. Claims have fallen from a record high of 6.149 million in early April 2020.

There are no indications yet that Russia’s one-month-old war against Ukraine, which has sent U.S. gasoline costs to record highs and is predicted to worsen the pressure on international supply chains, has affected the labor market.

Firms are desperate for workers. There were 11.3 million job starts at the end of January, with a record 1.8 open jobs per jobless individual.

This misalignment between the need for labor and supply increases wage growth, which offers some cushion to families against the skyrocketing gasoline costs and providing into high inflation.