FEWER AMERICANS APPLY FOR JOBLESS BENEFITS AS LABOR MARKET KEEPS HUMMING ALONG
Photo Credit: David A. Lieb
Applications for unemployment benefits fell again last week as America's labor market continues to hum along despite attempts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and bring down inflation that's still higher than optimal.
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell last week by 10,000, to 230,000 the week ending August 19, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose by 2,250 to 236,750.
Jobless claim applications are seen as reflective of the number of layoffs in a given week.
In an attempt to bring down four-decade high inflation, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates 11 times in the past year-and-a-half to the current 5.4%, a 22-year high.