In the week ending Aug. 6, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased by 14,000 from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 248,000, according to a report released by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims, a method to iron out data volatility, increased by 4,500 to 252,000, the report showed.
Jobless claims totaled 166,000 in the week ending March 19, the lowest in decades. In recent months, the figures have been trending up amid surging inflation and rising interest rates.
The latest figure of 262,000 is well above the 2019 weekly average of 218,000, which is the pre-pandemic level. In the week ending March 14, 2020, jobless claims totaled 221,000, but in the following week, the figure skyrocketed to 2.9 million.
The latest report also showed that the number of people continuing to collect regular state unemployment benefits, which was reported with a one-week lag, increased by 8,000 to 1.4 million during the week ending July 30.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs -- state and federal combined -- for the week ending July 23 also increased by 9,206 to 1.48 million.
The Labor Department reported last week that U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July despite recession fears, with the unemployment rate edging down to the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent, signaling a still robust labor market.
But as the Federal Reserve ramps up its fight against surging inflation, the strong job market may be about to take a turn for the worse.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said recently that the process to bring down inflation would likely involve a period of below-trend economic growth and "some softening in labor market conditions."
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