WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week. Yet even with the increase, applications for jobless aid remain low, a reassuring sign after hiring slowed last month.
Weekly applications rose 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 281,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The climb occurred after applications plummeted to match a 15-year low in the previous week.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 3,000 to 282,250. The average has fallen 11.8 percent in the past year.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the steep decline in the last 12 months suggests that companies are cutting fewer jobs.
Meanwhile, the number of people receiving benefits fell to 2.3 million, the fewest in more than 14 years. That partly reflects the drop in layoffs and improving job market. But it also dropped because the federal government’s extended benefits program, which added more weeks of jobless aid to the 26 weeks provided by most states, expired at the beginning of 2014.