Jobless claims rose to 218,000 for the week ending Dec.23

DORAL, FL – Jobless claims rose to 218,000 for the week ending on December 23, which represents an increase of 12,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department announced. The four-week average of claims fell by 250 to 212,000.

In general, 1.88 million Americans were requesting jobless benefits during the week that ended Dec. 16, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week, said the AP. 

However, according to experts, the increase in jobless claims does not indicate the labor market is going through a downfall nor does affect the economy in general. 

This is a slightly different scenario compared with that of the ending of November 2023 when U.S. unemployment claims fell sharply. 

Recent weekly unemployment claims, that some qualify as “extraordinary low”, has been given in the midst of an increase of interest rates by the Federal Reserve that started doing so last year as an attempt to fight the inflation left in the aftermath of the COVID-19 recession of 2020. They have raised its benchmark rate 11 times since March of 2022, leaving the rates alone at its last three meetings. 

The reports indicate the Feds could cut rates three times next year, all while currently inflation remains slightly above their 2% target. 

It seems that predictions about how raising rates could lead the U.S. economy to a recession did not happen, because overall the economy and the job market remain stable. The unemployment rate has come in below 4% for 22 straight months, the longest since the 1960s, and hiring, although it has slowed, remains healthy, reports the AP. 

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