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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased slightly last week, but U.S. layoffs remain at historically low levels despite signs of softening in the labor market.
The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 1,000 to 200,000 in the week ended January 17, up from 199,000 the previous week. Labor Department reported Thursday. That was lower than the 207,000 new applications expected by analysts polled by data firm FactSet.
Unemployment claims are seen as an indicator of layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
Initial jobless claims fell by an average of 3,750 last week to 201,500, easing some of the weekly volatility.
The government said the total number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the United States fell by 26,000 to 1.85 million in the week ended January 10.