WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign that layoffs remain low even as several prominent companies announced job cuts.
U.S. jobless claims fell by 6,000 in the week ending Nov. 22 from the previous week to 216,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits is seen as an indicator of layoffs and is close to a real indicator of the state of the labor market. Job cuts announced recently by major companies such as Target and Amazon typically take weeks or months to fully materialize and may not yet be reflected in claims data.
The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, fell 1,000 to 223,750.
The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending November 15 rose by 7,000 to 1.96 million.
