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The
Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claim
applications rose by 3,000 to 221,000 for the week of Nov. 2.
That’s fewer than the 227,000 analysts forecast.
The four-week average of weekly claims, which softens some of
the week-to-week fluctuations, fell by 9,750 to 227,250.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered
representative of U.S. layoffs in a given week.
Continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting
jobless benefits, rose by 39,000 to 1.89 million for the week of
Oct. 26. That's the most since late 2021.
In response to weakening employment data and receding consumer
prices, the Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate
in September by a half a percentage point as the central bank
shifted its focus from taming inflation toward supporting the
job market. The Fed is hoping to execute a rare “soft landing,”
whereby it brings down inflation without tipping the economy
into a recession.
It was the Fed’s first rate cut in four years after a series of
increases starting in 2022 that pushed the federal funds rate to
a two-decade high of 5.3%.
The Fed is expected to announce later Thursday that it has cut
its benchmark borrowing rate by another quarter point.
Inflation has retreated steadily, approaching the Fed’s 2%
target and leading Chair Jerome Powell to declare recently that
it was largely under control.
Last week, the government reported that an inflation gauge
closely watched by the Fed fell to its lowest level in
three-and-a-half years.
During the first four months of 2024, applications for jobless
benefits averaged just 213,000 a week before rising in May. They
hit 250,000 in late July, supporting the notion that high
interest rates were finally cooling a red-hot U.S. job market.
In October, the U.S. economy produced a meager 12,000 jobs,
though economists pointed to recent strikes and hurricanes that
left many workers temporarily off payrolls.
In August, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy
added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year
than were originally reported. The revised total was also
considered evidence that the job market has been slowing
steadily, compelling the Fed to start cutting interest rates.
2021.
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