The unemployment claims report is a total disconnect from the current labour situation in the US. It is no longer a reliable report to gauge the labour market in the US.
Only full time employees who lost their jobs are entitled to the claims. PART-TIMERS are not entitled.
Most of the jobs created in recent years are either minimum wage jobs or part-time jobs in the retail or restaurant businesses.
Despite the closure of retail stores and restaurants, the unemployment claims did not tick up because those who lost their jobs are mostly part-timers.
The part-time jobs are included in the NFP (Non-Farm Payroll), But many in the US is working 2-3 part time jobs. So NUMBER OF JOBS IS NOT EQUAL TO NUMBER OF EMPLOYED PERSONS.
Also, when a person remains unemployed after a specific period, he or she is no longer considered part of the labour force. And that is the reason why the unemployment rate is down. It means more people have left the labour force because they are not able to find a job.
And that is the reason for the low labour participation rate.
Remember this: Almost 96M Americans who are or employable age are without a job and more than 40M rely on food stamps to get by,
If the US workers have good paying jobs, the credit card debt would not have reached a record high.