The number of Americans who lost their jobs and filed for state unemployment benefits rose last week, but the labor market remains much stronger than officials from the Federal Reserve would like to see as they attempt to tame inflation.
Jobless claims for the week ending on the first of October rose by 29,000 to 219,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The previous week’s number was revised down by 3,000 to 190,000.
The average number of jobless claims in the five years preceding the pandemic—a period in which the labor market was considered especially strong and unemployment was very low—was around 260,000.
Claims can be volatile week to week so many economists look to the four-week moving average to read the strength of the labor market. This moved up by a tiny 250 to 206,500.
The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits moved up by 15,000 to 1.36 million for the week ending Sept. 24. The long-term average, going back to 1969, for unemployment claims is 2.79 million.
Jobless claims are considered a proxy for layoffs. Although several companies have announced payroll cuts or hiring freezes, U.S. businesses in the aggregate have continued to add jobs. ADP reported on Wednesday that its data indicated the private sector added 208,000 jobs in September, more than economists had forecast. Manufacturing jobs were down, however, as were payrolls in technology and finance.
The Labor Department will release its report on jobs and unemployment in September on Friday. It is expected to show employment in the private and public sectors grew by 275,000 and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent.
On Tuesday, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that the number of open positions fell by 1.1 million. Despite the decline, job vacancies remain at a historically high level, above 10 million.
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