adminThe numbers: The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell slightly to 217,000 and stayed at very low levels typical of a strong U.S. labor market.
New jobless claims declined by 3,000 from a revised 220,000 in the prior week, the government said.
Claims still show a very low number of job losses and indicate the economy is stable, but businesses are hiring less and the labor market appears to have cooled off a bit.
Unemployment claims typically surge above 300,000 and eventually go a lot higher when a recession is near.
Economists had forecast new claims in the week ending Nov. 4 to total 220,000.
Big picture: A rock-solid labor market is showing some chinks, but the unemployment rate is still extremely low and few companies are laying off workers. The strong jobs market is the economy’s biggest insurance policy against a recession.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and S&P 500
SPX,
were set to open higher in Thursday trading.
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