By MATT OTT, AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for jobless aid inched down last week as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels.
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The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 27 fell by 1,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
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The four-week moving average of jobless claims, which quiets some of the week-to-week noise, fell by 2,500 to 222,000.
The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending June 20 ticked up by 2,000 by to 1.81 million.
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