New applications for unemployment benefits rose last week above their prepandemic average for the first time since January, adding to signs the hot labor market could be starting to cool a little.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased by 27,000 to 229,000 last week from the previous week’s revised level of 202,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims had been at or below the 2019 average of 218,000 since late January.
