Steady Jobless Claims Show Labor Market Remains Strong
A job fair in Sunrise, Fla., last month.
Photo:
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Workers filings for unemployment benefits held nearly steady last week, showing that the broader labor market remains robust despite large companies announcing layoffs.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased slightly by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 191,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The level of claims fluctuated earlier this month, in part due to school closures, but broadly remains historically low. The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths out volatility in the weekly numbers, edged lower last week to 196,250.
Claims have remained at or below the 2019 prepandemic average of about 220,000 for several months. That came despite large employers in interest-rate sensitive industries such as technology, finance and real estate cutting jobs.
Amazon.com Inc. said this week that it plans to cut 9,000 more corporate jobs and internet job-search platform Indeed on Wednesday said it expects to lay off about 2,200 employees, or 15% of its workforce. Meta Platforms Inc. recently said it plans to cut roughly 10,000 jobs over the coming months, the Facebook parent’s second round of mass layoffs. And the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and uncertainty in the financial sector have put bank employees into limbo.
But even with the job-cut announcements, there hasn’t been an uptick in filings for unemployment benefits. Hiring has been strong this year and the unemployment rate is trending near a half-century low. Some workers may be forgoing applying for jobless assistance because they are quickly finding new work or are receiving generous severance packages.
Write to Bryan Mena at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
A job fair in Sunrise, Fla., last month.
Photo:
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Workers filings for unemployment benefits held nearly steady last week, showing that the broader labor market remains robust despite large companies announcing layoffs.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased slightly by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 191,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The level of claims fluctuated earlier this month, in part due to school closures, but broadly remains historically low. The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths out volatility in the weekly numbers, edged lower last week to 196,250.
Claims have remained at or below the 2019 prepandemic average of about 220,000 for several months. That came despite large employers in interest-rate sensitive industries such as technology, finance and real estate cutting jobs.
Amazon.com Inc. said this week that it plans to cut 9,000 more corporate jobs and internet job-search platform Indeed on Wednesday said it expects to lay off about 2,200 employees, or 15% of its workforce. Meta Platforms Inc. recently said it plans to cut roughly 10,000 jobs over the coming months, the Facebook parent’s second round of mass layoffs. And the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and uncertainty in the financial sector have put bank employees into limbo.
But even with the job-cut announcements, there hasn’t been an uptick in filings for unemployment benefits. Hiring has been strong this year and the unemployment rate is trending near a half-century low. Some workers may be forgoing applying for jobless assistance because they are quickly finding new work or are receiving generous severance packages.
Write to Bryan Mena at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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