Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose for the first time in six weeks but remained historically low, underscoring the resilience of the job market despite mounting economic uncertainty.
Initial unemployment claims rose by 13,000 to 196,000 in the week ended Feb. 4, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 190,000 applications.
Continuing claims, which include people who have already received unemployment benefits for a week or more, increased to 1.69 million in the week ended Jan. 28.
