The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits rose slightly in mid-February, but the rate of layoffs in the U.S. economy is fairly stuck and shows no sign of rising.
Washington said initial jobless claims edged up by 4,000 to 210,000 in the seven days ended Feb. 15. The figures are seasonally adjusted.
Economists had forecast a 210,000 reading. The more stable monthly average of jobless claims, filtering out the weekly ups and downs, slipped by 3,250 to 209,000, to the lowest level since last April.
New applications for unemployment benefits give a sense of how many people are losing their jobs. They touched a 50-year low of 193,000 in April 2019 and have hovered in the low 200,000s since then.
