Jobless claims edge lower to 222,000 in early June

The numbers: Initial jobless claims fell slightly in early June, keeping the rate of layoffs in the U.S. near a 50-year low.

New claims dipped by 1,000 to 222,000 in the seven days ended June 2. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 225,000 reading.

The more stable monthly average of new claims rose by 2,750 to 225,500, the government said.

The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, meanwhile, increased by 21,000 to 1.75 million. Known as continuing claims, they are also near the lowest level in decades.

What happened: Unemployment is extremely low in every state and there’s no sign it’s about to rise. Increases in one week are typically followed by declines in the following week, indicating that most changes in state unemployment are related to seasonal quirks that quickly fade.

Big picture: The labor market is healthier now than it’s been since the late 1990s. The number of job openings was higher in April, for instance, than the number of job seekers for the first time since the government began keeping track almost two decades ago.

In May, the U.S. economy added a robust 223,000 new jobs to knock the unemployment rate down to an 18-year low of 3.8%. The jobless rate is likely to go even lower in the months ahead, perhaps touching levels not seen since the 1960s