The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits were unchanged last week, according to the Associated Press, as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool hiring.
The Labor Department reported today that unemployment claims for the week ending April 13 were even with the previous week’s 212,000. The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, was also unchanged at 214,500.
Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week and a sign of where the job market is headed. They have remained at historically low levels since the spring of 2020.
In total, 1.81 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 6, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week.
