For the first time in six weeks, the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose.
Still, layoffs remain historically low even as more high-profile companies have announced job cuts this year.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose by 13,000 to 215,000 for the week ending Feb. 24, according to statistics released by the Labor Department Thursday. Last week’s number was revised up by 1,000 to 202,000.
In total, 1.9 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Feb. 17, up 45,000 from the previous week and the most since November.
Weekly unemployment claims have historically low since the pandemic purge of millions of jobs in the spring of 2020.
The four-week average of claims, a less volatile measure, fell by 3,000 to 212,500 from the previous week.
U.S. employers added 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy’s continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades.
The unemployment rate is 3.7%, and has been below 4% for 24 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.
