Unemployment Benefit Applications Decrease Over the Past Week

• Applications for unemployment benefits decreased to 224,000 last week.
• The average number of applications for four weeks rose to 221,750.
• The total number of recipients of unemployment benefits decreased to 1.96 million.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased last week, remaining at a historically low level since the onset of the U.S. economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data from the Department of Labor, applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 9 fell by 3,000 to 224,000. This is lower than economists' forecasts, who expected 230,000 new applications.

Weekly unemployment applications are seen as a barometer of layoffs in the U.S. and typically remain in the historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since the pandemic hit the economy.

According to the latest data, the average number of applications for four weeks rose by 750 to 221,750. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits decreased by 15,000 to 1.96 million compared to the previous week.

However, despite the low level of layoffs, this year has seen significant worsening in the job market, including that people are having trouble finding work. In June, there were 7.4 million job openings, which is less than 7.7 million in May.

Tags: USA/Economy