Jobless benefits applications inch higher but remain at historically healthy levels

abcnews.go.com:

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits inched up last week but remains low by historical standards, even with the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes meant to cool the economy and taper lingering inflation

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits inched up last week but remains low by historical standards, even with the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes meant to cool the economy and taper lingering inflation.

Unemployment claims rose by 5,000 to 217,000 for the week ending Oct. 28, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.

The four-week moving average of claims, which quiets some of the week-to-week ups and downs, ticked up by 2,000 to 210,000.

Overall, 1.82 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Oct. 21, about 35,000 more than the previous week and the most since April.

Those “continuing claims," analyst suggest, continue to rise because many of those who are already unemployed may now be having a harder time finding new work.

Still, the American labor market continues to show resiliency in the midst of the Federal Reserve’s effort to get inflation back down to its 2% target.

Though Fed officials opted to leave the benchmark rate alone on Wednesday, the U.S. central bank has raised rates 11 times since March of 2022 in an effort to tame inflation, which reached a four-decade high in 2022. Part of the Fed’s goal is too cool the economy and labor market, which in turn would slow price growth.

In September, consumer prices were up 3.7% from a year earlier, down from a peak 9.1% in June last year. However, U.S. economic growth surged in the