The number of workers asking for unemployment jumped last week.
Though the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remains in the same range where it has settled the past few years, U.S. jobless claim applications rose to 236,000 for the week ending Dec. 6, according to statistics released Thursday by the Labor Department. That’s a rise of 44,000 and is higher than the 213,000 some analysts had predicted.
The previous week’s figure, analysts say, was distorted by the Thanksgiving holiday, according to The Associated Press.
The appearance of a historically healthy job market didn’t keep the Federal Reserve from trimming its benchmark lending rate by a quarter-point on Wednesday, its third straight cut.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the committee reduced the rate because of concern that the job market is even weaker than it appears. Government data shows that the economy has added some 40,000 jobs a month since April, Powell suggested that figure could be revised lower by as much as 60,000, according to the AP. That would mean employers have actually been shedding an average of 20,000 jobs a month since the spring.
“It’s a labor market that seems to have significant downside risks,” Powell told reporters. “People care about that. That’s their jobs.”
The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Nov. 29 fell by 99,000 to 1.84 million, the government said. That’s the lowest level for continuing claims since mid-April.
The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 2,000 to 216,750.
