By MATT OTT, Associated Press business editor
In the United States, applications for unemployment benefits reached their highest level in two months last week, but remain low by historical standards.
Unemployment claims increased by 17,000 to 242,000 for the week of Dec. 7, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s far more than 220,000 analysts expected and yet another data point that reflects a slowing labor market.
This week’s report also showed that continuing claims, or the total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits, increased by 15,000 to 1.89 million for the week of November 30.
The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths out some of the weekly volatility, rose by nearly 6,000 to 224,250.
Weekly claims for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs in the United States.
Although the job market has shown some cracks recently, it remains healthy overall and has held up better than many experts expected, given the rise in interest rates in recent years. The Federal Reserve instituted a wave of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to try to suppress four-decade high inflation that took hold as the U.S. economy rebounded from the brief but sharp pandemic recession.
The Fed has cut its key rate at its last two meetings in response to falling inflation, which has fallen close to the US central bank’s 2% target after peaking above 9%. Most expect the Fed to announce another rate cut at its final meeting of 2024 next week.
Last week, the government reported that U.S. job openings rebounded to 7.7 million in October from a 3 1/2-year low of 7.4 million in September, a sign that businesses are still looking for workers even though hiring has slowed.
In November, American employers created 227,000 jobs, following a meager 36,000 in October, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes sharply reduced employers’ payrolls. The government also revised upward its estimate of job growth in September and October by a total of 56,000.
