U.S. jobless benefits claims dropped last week, the Associated Press reports, remaining in a historically healthy range. Applications for unemployment aid are broadly seen as representative of layoffs.
Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending July 5 fell by 5,000 to 227,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s fewer than the 238,000 analysts had forecast.
The four-week average of claims, which evens out some week-to-week volatility, was down 5,750 to 235,500, and the total number of Americans collecting those benefits for the week of June 28 rose by 10,000 to 1.97 million — the most since November 2021.
