FILE – A hiring sign is displayed outside a retail store in Vernon Hills, Ill., on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. The Department of Labor releases a weekly report on unemployment benefits on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. On Thursday , the Department of Labor reports the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell again last week, hovering around levels that suggest the US job market hasn’t been affected much by the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes. Federal.
Claims for jobless aid fell to 225,000 for the week ending Nov. 26, a decrease of 16,000 from 241,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out swings from week to week, rose 1,750 to 227,000.
Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs and, when viewed with other employment data, show that American workers enjoy extraordinary job security right now, despite an economy with some glaring weaknesses.
The Labor Department said Thursday that 1.61 million people received unemployment aid the week ending Nov. 19, up 57,000 from the week before.