More Americans filed jobless benefits last week, according to the Associated Press, but layoffs remain at historically low levels despite elevated interest rates and a flurry of job cuts in the media and technology sectors.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 214,000 for the week ending Jan. 20, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported today. The four-week average of claims, a less volatile measure, fell by 1,500 to 202,250.
Weekly unemployment claims are viewed as representative for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels despite high interest rates and elevated inflation.
Overall, 1.83 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Jan. 13, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week.
