Current:Home > BackUS filings for unemployment benefits inch up slightly but remain historically low-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
US filings for unemployment benefits inch up slightly but remain historically low
View Date:2024-12-23 19:51:29
Slightly more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain at historically low levels despite two years of elevated interest rates.
Jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 230,000 for the week of Sept. 7, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That number matches the number of new filings that economists projected.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out some of week-to-week volatility, ticked up by 500, to 230,750.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose by a modest 5,000, remaining in the neighborhood of 1.85 million for the week of Aug. 31.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits, considered a proxy for layoffs, remain low by historic standards, though they are up from earlier this year.
During the first four months of 2024, claims averaged a just 213,000 a week, but they started rising in May. They hit 250,000 in late July, adding to evidence that high interest rates were finally cooling a red-hot U.S. job market.
Employers added a modest 142,000 jobs in August, up from a paltry 89,000 in July, but well below the January-June monthly average of nearly 218,000.
Last month, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported. The revised total supports evidence that the job market has been slowing steadily and reinforces the Fed’s plan to start cutting interest rates later this month.
The Fed, in an attempt to stifle inflation that hit a four-decade high just over two years ago, raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. That pushed it to a 23-year high, where it has stayed for more than a year.
Inflation has retreated steadily, approaching the Fed’s 2% target and leading Chair Jerome Powell to declare recently that it was largely under control.
Most analysts are expecting the Fed to cut its benchmark rate by only a traditional-sized quarter of a percentage point at its meeting next week, not the more severe half-point that some had been forecasting.
veryGood! (541)
Related
- Bo the police K-9, who located child taken at knifepoint, wins Hero Dog Awards 2024
- 'The Daily Show' revamps RNC coverage after Donald Trump rally shooting
- New California law bans rules requiring schools to notify parents of child’s pronoun change
- Blue-collar steel town tries to dig out from day of infamy after Trump shooting
- 'Devastation is absolutely heartbreaking' from Southern California wildfire
- The Reformation x Laura Harrier Collab Will Give You Instant It Girl Status
- Trump assassination attempt hovers over Republican National Convention | The Excerpt
- The RNC’s first day will still focus on the economy. Here’s what to know about Trump’s plans
- How to Build Your Target Fall Capsule Wardrobe: Budget-Friendly Must-Haves for Effortless Style
- Panel recommends removing ex-chancellor from Wisconsin college faculty post for making porn videos
Ranking
- These Michael Kors’ Designer Handbags Are All Under $150 With an Extra 22% off for Singles’ Day
- Mass dolphin stranding off Cape Cod officially named the largest in U.S. history
- ‘Hillbilly Elegy': JD Vance’s rise to vice presidential candidate began with a bestselling memoir
- Jon Jones due in court to face 2 charges stemming from alleged hostility during drug testing
- Martha Stewart playfully pushes Drew Barrymore away in touchy interview
- New England fishermen sentenced in complex herring fraud case
- Pennsylvania State Police identify 3 victims shot at Trump rally
- Magnitude 3.4 earthquake recorded outside of Chicago Monday morning
Recommendation
-
Where is 'College GameDay' for Week 12? Location, what to know for ESPN show
-
Taylor Swift jokes she may have broken the acoustic set piano after an onstage malfunction in Milan
-
Ahead of RNC in Wisconsin, state officials decry horrific act after Trump assassination attempt
-
Messi’s Copa America injury adds doubt for rest of 2024, 2026 World Cup
-
John Krasinski named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2024
-
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin delivers emotional tribute to father at SEC media days
-
The Sphere will hit an EDM beat for New Year's Eve show with Anyma in Vegas debut
-
2024 Republican National Convention begins today on heels of Trump assassination attempt. Here's what to know.