According to the US Department of Labor, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time decreased by 6 thousand last week – to 186 thousand people. This was the lowest value since April 2022. A week earlier, this figure was 192 thousand, not 190 thousand, as originally reported. Analysts on average predicted an increase to 205 thousand from the previously announced level. Experts note that the latest data is another confirmation of the stability of the labor market, despite the aggressive pace of tightening of the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve System last year. Meanwhile, the average number of applications over the past four weeks, a less volatile indicator, decreased by 9.25 thousand to 197.5 thousand. The number of Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits for the week ended January 14 increased to 1.675 million compared with a revised 1.655 million in the previous week. Experts on average expected an increase of 12 thousand from the previously announced level to 1.659 million.
