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)