Jobless claims fall below 200,000 for first time since 1969, but tens of thousands unpaid federal workers seek financial aid

The numbers: The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits through state programs fell below 200,000 for the first time since 1969 — even as new claims soared for furloughed government workers who file through a separate federal program.

Initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs nationwide, fell by 13,000 to 199,000 in the seven days ended Jan. 19.

That’s the lowest reading since Nov. 15, 1969 and underscores the strength of a U.S. labor market that’s helped the U.S. economy grow for almost 10 years. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 218,00 reading.

At the same time, however, the number of federal workers who sought benefits after going more than a month without pay soared to 25,419 in the week ended Jan. 12. Federal claims are reported with a one-week lag.

That’s up from 10,454 in the first week of January and nearly 5,000 in the last week of December. The partial shutdown began Dec. 22 and is now entering its 34th day.

What happened: New claims filed through the states are about as low as they can go, but it’s a different story at the federal level.

Federal claims usually average less than 1,000 a week, but roughly 40,000 of the 800,000 federal workers who’ve been furloughed have applied for benefits. More and more workers are feeling the stress from going without pay and need temporary relief.

Federal workers will get back pay for time missed once the shutdown ends, but anyone who received jobless benefits will have to pay the money back.

The more stable monthly average of new state claims, meanwhile, slipped by 5,500 to 215,000.
The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims, fell by 24,000 to 1.71 million.

Big picture: Companies continue to hire nearly 10 years after the last recession owing to steady sales growth. That’s knocked the unemployment rate below 4% and reduced layoffs to a half-century low while keeping the economy on track to set a record for longest expansion ever by midsummer.

Yet the ongoing fight in Washington over a border wall, slowing growth in China and the rest of the world and worries about a festering U.S.-China trade spat have also raised anxiety levels to the highest point in years.