Washington DC [US], March 29: The number of Americans applying for jobless aid inched up last week as employers continue to retain workers despite a labor market that has weakened considerably in the past year.
US applications for jobless aid for the week ending March 21 rose by 5,000 to 210,000 from the previous week's 205,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
That's right in line with the 210,000 new filings analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.
Filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of US layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
While weekly layoffs have remained in a healthy range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years, a number of high-profile companies have announced job cuts recently, including Morgan Stanley,Block, UPSand Amazon.
Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs in February.
Source: Qatar Tribune
