Slightly more Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, but layoffs remain in a healthy range, according to the Associated Press.
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose by 5,000 to 219,000 for the week ending Feb. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts projected that 215,000 new applications would be filed.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs.
The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 1,000 to 215,250. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of Feb. 8 rose to 1.87 million, an increase of 24,000 from the previous week.
Some analysts say they expect layoffs ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency to show up in the report in the coming weeks.
Despite showing some signs of weakening during the past year, however, the labor market remains solid with plentiful jobs and relatively few layoffs.
