US applications for unemployment benefits fall to lowest level in 7 months
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in seven months, another sign that the labor market remains largely unaffected by higher interest rates
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in seven months with the labor market seemingly resistant to the higher interest rates put in to place to cool hiring.
U.S. applications for jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 216,000 for the week ending Sept. 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's the lowest level since February.
Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.
The Federal Reserve, well into the second year of its battle against inflation, has raised interest rates 11 times to 5.4%, the highest level in 22 years.
The Fed’s rate hikes are intended to cool the job market and bring down wages, which many economists believe suppresses price growth. Though some measures of inflation have come down significantly — from as much as 9% down closer to 3% — since the Fed starting raising interest rates, the job market has held up better than many expected.
Last week, the government reported that U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in August, another sign of a healthy labor market. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.8%, still low by historical measures.
The U.S. economy has been adding an average of about 236,000 jobs per month this year, down from the pandemic surge of the previous two years, but still a strong number.
Recent government data also showed that job openings dropped to 8.8 million in July, the fewest since March 2021 and down from 9.2 million in June. However, the numbers remain unusually robust considering
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