The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in six months last week as layoffs remain at relatively healthy levels.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claim applications fell by 4,000 to 217,000 for the week of Nov. 9. That’s less than the 225,000 analysts forecast.
The four-week average of weekly claims, which evens out some of the weekly ups and downs, fell by 6,250 to 221,000.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs in a given week.
Continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, fell to 1.87 million for the week of Nov. 2, in line with analysts’ expectations.