More Americans submitted claims for jobless benefits in the past week, with applications reaching 214,000 for the week ending Jan. 20—an uptick of 25,000 from the previous week, as reported by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The four-week average of these claims, a measure offering stability against volatility, saw a decrease of 1,500, settling at 202,250.
Despite the heightened interest rates and a wave of job cuts observed in the media and technology sectors, overall layoffs have clung to historically low levels. The week ending Jan. 13 saw 1.83 million Americans collecting jobless benefits, marking an increase of 27,000 from the prior week.
Weekly unemployment claims serve as an indicator for the number of U.S. layoffs occurring in a given week. Remarkably, these figures persist at notably low levels, defying expectations in the face of increased interest rates and heightened inflation.
