A hiring sign is displayed in Riverwoods, Ill., Tuesday, April 16, 2024. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn't change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool hiring.
The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, was also unchanged at 214,500. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in a bid to stifle the four-decade high inflation that took hold after the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed's intention was to loosen the labor market and cool wage growth, which it said contributed to persistently high inflation.
Last month, U.S. employers added a surprising 303,000 jobs, yet another example of the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. The unemployment rate dipped from 3.9% to 3.8% and has now remained below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.