CUNA Senior Economist Jordan van Rijn spoke with The Wall Street Journal recently about the stalled downward jobless claims in the U.S. According to the article, the stall is among several signs the labor market is gradually recovering.

“The overall trend is in the right direction,” van Rijn said. “Right now, there’s a lot of demand for labor out there and it’s the workers that are a little more in the driver’s seat.”

The Labor Department reported that initial unemployment claims moved slightly lower last week to a seasonally adjusted 411,000 from an upwardly revised 418,000 the prior week, when claims rose.