The number of workers filing for first-time unemployment benefits remained on something of a roller coaster last week.
After falling to an adjusted 199,000 last week, the number of Americans filing for benefits last week inched up by about 1,000, rising to 200,000 for the week ending Jan. 17, according to statistics released Thursday by the Labor Department. Despite the slight hike, the number remains historically low. The 200,000 applications were fewer than the 207,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Earlier this month, the government reported that hiring remained sluggish in December, capping a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment remained low, the AP reported.
Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the four-week average of jobless claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 3,750 to 201,500. The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Jan. 10 declined by 26,000 to 1.85 million, the government said.
