Don’t miss out on these fabulous Insider DealsA hiring sign is displayed in Arlington Heights, Ill., Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. On Thursday, March 21, 2024, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. –
Applications for unemployment benefits are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and a sign of where the job market is headed. Despite high-profile job cuts at tech companies such as Google parent Alphabet, eBay and Cisco Systems, overall layoffs remain below pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate, 3.9% in February, has come in under 4% for 25 straight months, longest such streak since the 1960s.
Hiring has slowed from the breakneck pace of three years ago but remains strong: Employers added a record 604,000 jobs a month in 2021, 377,000 in 2022 and 251,000 last year. In February, job creation rose unexpectedly to 275,000.