MW: Jobless claims hover near historic lows, up to 260,000
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)—Some 260,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in early September, up 1,000 from the prior week but still near the lowest level in decades.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 265,000 reading in the week stretching from Sept. 4 to Sept. 10.
Initial jobless claims slipped below 300,000 in 2015 and have stayed there for 80 straight weeks, the longest stretch since 1970.
The low level of layoffs is a reflection of a tightening labor market in which unemployment has fallen below 5% and companies increasingly complain they cannot find enough skilled workers.
The average of new jobless claims over the past month edged up by 500 to 260,750, the Labor Department said Thursday. The less volatile four-week average is seen as a more accurate measure of labor-market trends.
Continuing jobless claims, meanwhile, rose by 1,000 to 2.14 million in the week ended Sept. 3, the government said. These claims, reported with a one-week delay, reflect people already receiving unemployment checks.
