New applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell last week to historic lows as employers held on to their workers in the midst of a labor shortage.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased by 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was slightly below a level last seen in December, and the lowest level for initial claims since September 1969. The four-week average, which smooths out volatility in the numbers, decreased by 11,500 to 211,750.
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