Applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in eight months last week, the Associated Press reports, as businesses continue to retain workers despite elevated interest rates.
Jobless claim applications fell by 13,000 to 198,000 for the week ending Oct. 14, the Labor Department reported today. That’s the fewest since January. The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens out some of the week-to-week volatility, ticked down by 1,000 to 205,750.
In September, employers added 336,000 jobs, easily surpassing the 227,000 for August and raising the average gain for each of the past three months to a robust 266,000. The unemployment rate remained at 3.8%, close to a half-century low.
Besides some layoffs early this year — mostly in the technology sector — companies have been trying to retain workers.
Overall, 1.73 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Oct. 7, about 29,000 more than the previous week.
