The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week as layoffs in the U.S. remain historically low.
U.S. applications for jobless aid in the week ending July 4 ticked down by 2,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 220,000 new applications.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market.