Skip to main content
Monday, November 9, 2026Nov 9
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Applications for US jobless benefits fall sharply

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, job seeker Migdalia Feliz, of Miramar, Fla., third from right, listens to detective William DeJeus, left, of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, at a job fair in Sunrise. Fla. The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, job seeker Migdalia Feliz, of Miramar, Fla., third from right, listens to detective William DeJeus, left, of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, at a job fair in Sunrise. Fla. The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, job seeker Migdalia Feliz, of Miramar, Fla., third from right, listens to detective William DeJeus, left, of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, at a job fair in Sunrise. Fla. The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

By Associated Press 2 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped by a sharp 36,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 280,000, a sign that the job market is strengthening.

The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, fell 4,750 to 299,500, the Labor Department said Thursday. The total number of people collecting benefits during the first week of September was 2.43 million, the fewest since May 2007.

Applications for unemployment benefits remain at pre-recession levels. The number of people seeking benefits has been trending downward for the past four months.

Over the past year, the four-week average for applications has fallen 7.1 percent. In 2009, during the Great Recession, they topped 650,000.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. When fewer people seek benefits, it suggests that employers are keeping their workers, likely because they are more confident about customer demand and may be ready to hire.