The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits slid last week to its lowest level in five months, further evidence that the U.S. labor market continues to defy the Federal Reserve's attempts to cool it off.
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell by 7,000 to 221,000 for the week ending July 22, from 228,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's the fewest since February.
The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell y 3,750 to 233,750.
Jobless claim applications are broadly seen as a proxy for the number of layoffs in a given week.
Overall, 1.69 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended July 15, about 59,000 fewer than the previous week and the fewest since January.
