The number of people filing for unemployment benefits inched up last week but remained at a historically low level.
The Labor Department said Thursday that new claims for benefits, a proxy for layoffs, rose by 2,000 to 206,000 last week from a revised 204,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, climbed by 1,500 to 207,250 last week.
For several months, American workers have been enjoying a level of job security rarely seen since the late 1960s. The number of claims has rarely been this low for this long. The low level of claims is even more remarkable because the working population is twice as large as it was in the late 1960s, the last time claims were this low for an extended period.
On Tuesday, the government’s report on the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that just one percent of workers lost their jobs in July. That is close to the lowest rates of job losses recorded by the survey.
Employers were looking to hire 7.3 million workers in July. A tight labor market and a slow-growing labor force have made hiring challenging for employers, pushing many to seek improved productivity and more overtime from workers.
The number of workers applying for benefits after their first week rose by 8,000 to 1,779,000 during the week ended August 22. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week delay. The four-week average of continuing claims fell by 5,000 to 1,781,750.
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