Jobless Claims Remain Low Despite Elevated Inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. jobless claim applications rose last week but remain at historically low levels despite elevated inflation and other economic headwinds. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending May 2 rose by 10,000 to 200,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 205,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting. The previous week’s new claims figure, which was the fewest since 1969, was revised up by 1,000 to 190,000. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs. The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending April 25 declined by 10,000 to 1.77 million.