(Photo = Yonhap news)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Paul Lee] The number of claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. hit a nine-week low.

According to the Associated Press and other news agencies, the U.S. Department of Labor said on the 25th (local time) that the number of new unemployment benefits claims fell 5,000 to 207,000 last week from 212,000 last week.

It fell below the market estimate of 214,000.

The number of claims for four-week moving average unemployment benefits, which eliminated short-term volatility, fell 1,250 to 213,250.

The number of weekly unemployment claims is an indicator of the number of layoffs in the U.S. in a week, which gauges where the job market is heading.

The U.S. has remained historically low since the COVID-19 pandemic lost millions of jobs in the spring of 2020.

U.S. employers added an astonishing 303,000 jobs last month. This is another example of the resilience of the U.S. economy despite high interest rates, the Associated Press noted.

The unemployment rate fell from 3.9 percent to 3.8 percent, and has remained below 4 percent for the 26th straight month, the longest period since the 1960s.

 

 

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