Initial unemployment benefit filings reach high in 2024

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time last week reached a seasonally-adjusted 249,000, the highest seven-day total of 2024, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

The total for the week ending July 27 was 14,000 applications higher than the previous week's total of 235,000. The weekly unemployment insurance filings, which gauge the stability of the U.S. workforce, is one of the indicators looked at by the Federal Reserve .

The weekly first-time filing total had been as low as 194,000 back in January but has been above 223,000 or more for 12 of the past 13 weeks. The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims stood at 238,000, an increase of 2,500 from the week before.

The overall total of those filing for unemployment benefits for the week ending July 20 was 1.877 million, an increase of 33,000 from the week before, the Labor Department said. It marked the overall one-week total since Nov. 27, 2021, when the total reached 1.878 million.

The four-week moving average of the overall jobless insurance filing over the same period was 1.857 million, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week's revised total of 1,853,500. The four-week average also marked a nearly three-year high, when the average reached 1,859750 for the week ending Dec. 4, 2021.