Here are the signs the job market is hot for workers

cnbc.com:

Claims for unemployment insurance last week fell to their lowest level in more than 50 years — yet another sign workers are reaping the benefits of a hot labor market.

Americans filed 166,000 initial claims for jobless benefits in the week ended April 2, the Labor Department said Thursday. Initial claims are a proxy for layoffs.

The figure is a pandemic-era low. It also nearly ties the all-time trough.

The Labor Department began tracking jobless claims in 1967. Since then, just one other week in history has seen fewer claims for benefits: 162,000 in November 1968.

However, today's labor force is over double its size in 1968 (about 79 million people versus 164 million), making last week's milestone noteworthy on a proportional basis.

«Employers appear to be holding on to their workers very tightly, as affirmed by the latest look at new jobless claims,» according to Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

Other federal data indicate a strong labor market for workers, too.

Job openings and the number of people who leave their job voluntarily each remain near record-high levels set at the end of 2021.

Many have left their jobs for other opportunities amid the high demand for labor and for a big bump in pay. Annual wage growth has been higher than at any point in over 20 years, according to economists at Indeed, a job site, as employers compete for talent.

The rate at which businesses are laying off workers is also near a record low as businesses try to hold onto their staff.

The national unemployment rate — 3.6% in March — is approaching historic lows, too. It has fallen near the 3.5% pre-pandemic rate in February 2020, which had been the lowest unemployment rate since December 1969.

Workers on the sidelines have