US applications for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, tick down to 209,000 last week

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inched down modestly last week, remaining at historically healthy levels despite recent high-profile layoff announcements.

Applications for jobless aid for the week ending Jan. 24 fell by 1,000 to 209,000 from the previous week's number which was revised upward by 10,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting 205,000 new applications.

Applications for unemployment benefits are seen as representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.


The four-week average of jobless claims, which balances out some of the week-to-week ups and downs, rose by 2,250 to 206,250.

The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Jan. 17 fell by 38,000 to 1.83 million, the government said. That's the fewest since Sept. 21, 2024.