Aug. 22 (UPI) — The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time last week increased breaking a two-week streak of decreased application filings since the 2024 high, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
The unemployment insurance filings, which give a snapshot of the country’s workforce stability over a week, rose by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 for the week ending Aug. 17.
They had dropped by 18,000 since reaching 250,000 for the week ending July 27. The Labor Department revised last week’s total up 1,000 to 228,000.
Initial unemployment filings have not been below 200,000 for any given week since January and haven’t been below 220,000 since May.
The four-week moving average for those filing unemployment benefits for the first time was 236,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised total.
The total number of workers filing for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug.10 was 1.863 million, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week and the highest weekly total since Nov. 27, 2021.
The four-week moving average for the total jobless claims for the same week was 1,865,500, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised total. The filing average was also at its highest level since Nov. 27, 2021.