The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose modestly last week, but the level of claims remains at healthy levels, according to the Associated Press.
Jobless claims rose by 4,000 to 232,000 for the week of Aug. 17, the Labor Department reported today. The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly gyrations, ticked down by 750 to 236,000. For the week ending Aug. 10, 1.86 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits, 4,000 more than the week before.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits, which are a proxy for layoffs, remain low by historical standards.
From January through May, claims averaged a paltry 213,000 a week before rising in May, hitting 250,000 in late July, and adding to evidence that high interest rates are taking a toll on the U.S. job market.
The tiny increase in claims this week follows two straight weeks of declines, however, largely dispelling worries that the job market is deteriorating rapidly rather than just slowing.
