What goes up must come down, and that’s what happened in the unemployment arena last week.
After soaring to a two-month high the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell precipitously.
According to Labor Department statistics, applications for jobless benefits dropped to 220,000 for the week ending Dec. 14. That’s a decline of 22,000 and a total below the 229,000 analysts were expecting, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Continuing claims fell by 5,000 to 1.87 million for the week of Dec. 7. That was also fewer than analysts had projected, according to the AP.
The four-week average of weekly claims, which quiets some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 1,250 to 225,500.
The job market remains broadly healthy and has held up better than many experts predicted considering that interest rates have been elevated for years, according to the AP report. The Federal Reserve used a flurry of rate increases starting in March 2022 to try to suppress inflation, which had risent to a four-decade high.
The Fed cut its benchmark rate again on Wednesday — its third cut in a row — in response to broadly receding inflation, though it has proven difficult to get down to the U.S. central bank’s target of 2%.
Earlier this month, the government reported that U.S. job openings rebounded to 7.7 million in October from a 3 1/2 year low of 7.4 million in September, a sign that businesses are still seeking workers even though hiring has cooled.
In November, the U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs, following just 36,000 in October, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls.
