Current:Home > Contact-usUS weekly jobless claims fall, but the total number collecting benefits is the most since 2021-LoTradeCoin
US weekly jobless claims fall, but the total number collecting benefits is the most since 2021
View Date:2024-12-24 09:59:28
Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week but the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose to the highest level in more than two years.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending June 22 fell by 6,000 to 233,000 from 239,000 the previous week.
However, the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose for the eighth straight week, to 1.84 million, for the week of June 15. That’s the most since November of 2021.
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in an attempt to extinguish the four-decade high inflation that shook the economy after it rebounded from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed’s intention was to cool off a red-hot labor market and slow wage growth, which can fuel inflation.
Many economists had expected the rapid rate hikes would trigger a recession, but that’s been avoided so far thanks to strong consumer demand and sturdier-than-expected labor market.
But recent government data suggest that some cracks are beginning to show.
Applications for jobless benefits are trending higher in June after mostly staying below 220,000 this year. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4% in May, despite the fact that America’s employers added a strong 272,000 jobs last month. Job postings for April hit their lowest level since 2021.
Thursday’s report from the Labor department showed that the four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 3,000 to 236,000.
veryGood! (79)
Related
- Michael Grimm, former House member convicted of tax fraud, is paralyzed in fall from horse
- Chiefs WR trade options: Could Rashee Rice's injury prompt look at replacements?
- San Francisco stunner: Buster Posey named Giants president, replacing fired Farhan Zaidi
- Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma Make Debut as Married Couple During Paris Fashion Week
- Wildfire map: Thousands of acres burn near New Jersey-New York border; 1 firefighter dead
- Reveal Old Navy’s Mystery Deals & Save 60% – Score $18 Jeans, $4 Tank Tops, $10 Leggings & More
- Plans to build green spaces aimed at tackling heat, flooding and blight
- Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma marry in Italy
- Suspect in deadly 2023 Atlanta shooting is deemed not competent to stand trial
- Ancestral land returned to Onondaga Nation in upstate New York
Ranking
- Why Josh O'Connor Calls Sex Scenes Least Sexy Thing After Challengers With Zendaya and Mike Faist
- Starliner astronauts welcome Crew-9 team, and their ride home, to the space station
- Paris Jackson Shares Sweet Reason Dad Michael Jackson Picked Elizabeth Taylor to Be Her Godmother
- Martin Short Details Nervous First Day on Only Murders Set with Meryl Streep
- Demure? Brain rot? Oxford announces shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year: Cast your vote
- US port strike by 45,000 dockworkers is all but certain to begin at midnight
- Cutting food waste would lower emissions, but so far only one state has done it
- Wisconsin city replaces ballot drop box after mayor carted it away
Recommendation
-
FanDuel Sports Network regional channels will be available as add-on subscription on Prime Video
-
Pete Rose made history in WWE: How he became a WWE Hall of Famer
-
Many small businesses teeter as costs stay high while sales drop
-
Cardi B Reveals How She Found Out She Was Pregnant With Baby No. 3
-
Karol G addresses backlash to '+57' lyric: 'I still have a lot to learn'
-
Fed Chair Powell says the US economy is in ‘solid shape’ with more rate cuts coming
-
Golden State Valkyries expansion draft: WNBA sets date, rules for newest team
-
Measure to expand medical marijuana in Arkansas won’t qualify for the ballot