Last week, the number of Americans filing for jobless claims decreased, indicating the resilience of the labor market even in the face of elevated interest rates aimed at slowing down economic growth in the United States. According to the Labor Department's report on Thursday, applications for unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 to 212,000 for the week ending on February 10.
To get a clearer picture of the overall trend, economists often look at the four-week average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week fluctuations. In this case, the four-week average rose by 5,750 to 218,500, compared to the previous week's figure of 212,750.
