The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits inched down last week, consistent with a recent stalling in the labor market recovery.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 793,000 for the week ended Feb. 6, compared to 812,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 757,000 applications for the latest week.Claims remain above their 665,000 peak during the 2007-2009 Great Recession. They are, however, well below the record 6.867 million reported last March when the pandemic hit the United States.
The government reported last Friday that the economy created only 49,000 jobs in January after losing 227,000 in December.
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