Jobless Claims Edge Up to 199000 as the Low Hire Low Fire Market Drags On

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 199,000 in the week ended Oct. 10, the Labor Department said Thursday.

It was the fifth straight week that claims stayed below the 200,000 level, a sign that the labor market remains stuck in what economists call a low-hire, low-fire pattern. Layoffs are scarce, but hiring is sluggish.

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, a survey of regional economic conditions released Wednesday, described labor market conditions as little changed between late August and early October, with labor supply generally adequate to meet demand.

The report also said five districts reported that some firms had reduced staffing through attrition, delayed hiring, or expected less job creation after boosting productivity with investments in artificial intelligence.

The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits, a proxy for hiring, fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.710 million in the week ended Oct. 3, according to Reuters.

The median duration of unemployment was 11.5 weeks in September, near a four-and-a-half-year high, while the unemployment rate stood at 4.2 percent.