By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell sharply last week and the number of Americans on unemployment rolls hit a 17-year low, pointing to a tightening labour market that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.
While other data on Thursday showed worker productivity fell in the first quarter, the overall trend is improving.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 238,000 for the week ended April 29, the Labor Department said. The decline unwound most of the prior two weeks' increases, which economists had blamed on volatility arising from the different timings of the Easter holidays and spring breaks.
"Firms remain extremely reluctant to lay off labour. There is nothing here that changes our views and the labour market data remain supportive of a further rate increase in June," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.
The Fed on Wednesday kept its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged and said it expected labour market conditions would "strengthen somewhat further." Officials at the U.S. central bank also viewed the pedestrian 0.7 percent annualised economic growth pace in the first quarter as likely "transitory" and expected economic activity to expand at a "moderate" pace.
Jobless claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labour market, for 113 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labour market was smaller.
The labour market is close to full employment, with the unemployment rate at a near 10-year low of 4.5 percent.
Economists had forecast first-time applications for jobless benefits falling to 247,000 last week. The number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid declined 23,000 to 1.96 million in the week ended April 22, the lowest level since April 2000.
The dollar fell slightly against a basket of currencies. Prices for U.S. Treasuries fell as did stocks on Wall Street.
PAYROLLS REBOUND EXPECTED
Last week's claims report has no bearing on April's employment report, which is scheduled for release on Friday, as it falls outside the survey period. Filings for unemployment benefits were low in April compared to March.
A separate report from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday showed U.S.-based employers announced 36,602 job cuts in April, down 15 percent from March.
The layoffs were concentrated in the retail sector, which has been hit by store closures amid stiff competition from online retailers. According to a Reuters survey of economists, job growth likely rebounded 185,000 following March's paltry 98,000 gain, which was the smallest in 10 months.
In another report, the Labor Department said nonfarm productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, decreased at a 0.6 percent annualised rate in the first quarter, the weakest in a year.
Productivity increased at a 1.8 percent pace in the fourth quarter. Compared to the first quarter of 2016, productivity increased at a 1.1 percent rate, suggesting a gradual improvement in the productivity trend.
Productivity has increased at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent over the last five years, well below its long-term rate of 2.1 percent from 1947 to 2016.
"The trend in productivity has been very soft in recent years and we are pessimistic about prospects for a meaningful pickup in productivity, in large part because we are likely in a mature stage of the expansion," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) in New York.
Unit labour costs, the price of labour per single unit of
output, increased at a 3.0 percent pace in the first quarter after rising at a 1.3 percent rate in the fourth quarter.
Compared to the first quarter of 2016, unit labour costs rose at a 2.8 percent rate, suggesting wage growth was picking up.
A fourth report from the Commerce Department showed the trade gap dipped 0.1 percent to $43.7 billion (£33.8 billion) in March as both imports and exports fell. The weakness in exports suggests a softening in global growth, while sluggish domestic demand is weighing on imports.
In another report, the department said new orders for U.S.-made goods increased for a fourth straight month in March and orders for capital equipment were stronger than previously reported. That suggests a sustained recovery in the manufacturing sector.