Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, reflecting a tight job market, despite recent layoffs in certain sectors of the economy that have witnessed a downturn, according to the Labor Department on June 30.
Those filing for jobless claims fell to 231,000 last week, with a decline of 2,000 from 233,000 in the previous week, the highest four-week average since January 2022.
The four-week average for claims, rose by 7,250 from the previous week to 231,750, while the previous week’s average was revised up by 1,000 from 223,500 to 224,500.
First-time claims generally represent the number of layoffs for the week.
There were 1,328,000 continuing jobless claims, which are the best early recession indicator. This fell below the upwardly revised 1,331,000 figure from last week, which has hovered at near 50-year lows for several months….