The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained relatively elevated last week, potentially another signal that Federal Reserve rate hikes are beginning to cool a surprisingly resilient labor market.
U.S. applications for jobless claims were 264,000 for the week ending June 17, the same as the previous week’s revised number, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s slightly more than analysts were expecting. The claims numbers for the past two weeks are the highest since October of 2021.
