States reported that 217,000 workers filed for new unemployment benefits during the week ending March 2, unchanged from the previous week’s revised level. The weekly claims are consistent with an overall low level of job-cutting, despite high-profile layoff announcements. The unemployment rate has remained under 4 percent over the past two years, while about 1.9 million workers continue to claim unemployment benefits.
In other labor market news, job openings in January changed little from December 2023, holding steady at 8.9 million, according to the monthly JOLTS report released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Openings had hit a peak of 12 million in March 2022 but were trending down since the start of 2023, a sign of cooling demand for labor. The number of hires for the month held steady at 5.7 million.
Tomorrow, the Department of Labor will report on how many jobs the U.S. economy added in February, the updated unemployment rate and wage gains for the month.
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