The Number of Americans Filling for Jobless Aid Continues Under 200,000
Wanjiru Waweru, Jadetimes Contributor
W. Waweru is a Jadetimes News Reporter Covering America & Business
Washington, D.C. – Applications across the United States for unemployment benefits inched up as layoffs continue, with the majority of Americans participating in the job security program. Initial jobless claims rose from 1,000 to 199,000 before the Labor Department released its report on October 15. The four-week average of claims rose by 250 to 198,500.
Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch carefully because they could give signs of where the job market is heading in the wrong direction. This year, the claims have remained under 200,000.
The weekly report indicates that most industries are optimistic about the economy, and their sales are enough to keep them from laying off their workers. At the same time, hiring has been recently sluggish, resulting in a “low-hire, low-fire” job market. Last month, the unemployment rate was 4.2%.
Earlier this month, the government reported that businesses and other businesses added just 29,000 jobs in September, down from 133,000 in August, under the circumstances that the economy has faced.
The population growth is going slow, and immigration in the United States is dropping; this does not guarantee that each individual generates a lot of jobs each month to keep the unemployment rate low.
Despite a broadly healthy labor market, there are considerations that higher borrowing costs and persistent inflation caused by rising energy prices could affect businesses to decrease jobs to reduce all costs.
On October 13, the grocery store company Kroger announced that it laid off about 3,000 corporate employees within the next three years. Rival chain Albertsons, which has been reduced its headcount, continues to make more job cuts.
The total number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits for the previous week that ended on October 3, down by 4,000 to 1.71 million.
Read: Labor Market Stumbled in September as Jobs Increased by 29,000, Unemployment Rate Rose to 4.2%
About Wanjiru Waweru
Wanjiru Waweru is a Jadetimes Contributor. You can email Wanjiru at sellmypaperwork@gmail.com.
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