The number of individuals filing new applications for unemployment benefits ticked lower last week as businesses remain reluctant to lay off their workers.
For the week ending Aug. 9, initial jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 224,000 from a slightly upwardly revised 227,000 in the previous week.
Economists had penciled in a reading of 228,000, according to data released by the Department of Labor on Aug. 14.
Initial claims filed in a program for federal workers decreased by 71, to 637. Economic observers have been monitoring this portion of the Labor Department’s weekly report to determine whether related actions by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are influencing federal payrolls….