U.S. Jobless Claims Edged Up Last Week
June 01 2023 - 9:13AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Chaney Cambon
Worker filings for U.S. unemployment benefits increased slightly
last week, but remained historically low as the strong labor market
gradually cools.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, ticked up by 2,000
to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 last week, the Labor Department
said Thursday.
The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths volatility
in the weekly numbers, declined to 229,500. Claims averaged about
220,000 a week in 2019, just before the pandemic began and when the
labor market was also strong.
Initial claims have stayed at relatively low levels, despite
waves of layoffs in technology, finance and other industries. That
is in part because many laid-off workers are able to quickly find
new positions. U.S. job openings climbed in April to 10.1 million
from 9.7 million a month earlier, well above the 5.7 million
unemployed looking for work that month.
Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people seeking
ongoing unemployment benefits, increased by 6,000 to 1.8 million in
the week ended May 20. Continuing claims are reported with a
one-week lag.
Write to Sarah Chaney Cambon at sarah.chaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2023 08:58 ET (12:58 GMT)
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