The labor market may be weakening, but it’s not showing up in the numbers of unemployment applications.
U.S. filings for jobless benefits rose in the last week of 2025, but are still historically low.
According to statistics released by the Labor Department, the number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the week ending Jan. 3 rose to 208,000, an increase of 8,000 from the 200,000 reported the previous week. The figure was right in line with what analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting, according to The Associated Press.
The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 7,250 to 211,750.
The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Dec. 27 jumped by 56,000 to 1.91 million, the government said.
