Jobless claims edge up to 216,000, but still near historic lows

The numbers: The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in mid-November rose slightly, but they remained near historic lows.

Initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, edged up by 2,000 to 216,000 in the seven days ended Nov. 10. That was a bit higher than the 210,000 forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch.

The monthly average of new claims also rose, up 1,500 to 215,250, the government said Thursday.

What happened: New jobless claims have totaled fewer than 220,000 for 19 weeks in a row, a remarkably long stretch of scant layoffs. They haven’t been this low since the early 1970s and don’t look to rise much anytime soon.

The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, meanwhile, rose for the first time in seven weeks. They increased by 46,000 to 1.68 million.

Still, these so-called continuing claims are also at the lowest level since the early 1970s.
Big picture: The labor market is extremely tight — what economists say when it’s hard for companies to find enough people to fill a high number of job openings.

The good news is that a labor shortage is helping workers to earn bigger raises. It’s also bringing people back into the workforce who’ve been without jobs for a long time.

Yet if the rising cost of labor triggers higher inflation, it could also mean higher interest rates and an eventual slowing of the economy.