Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, pushing the average over the past month to the lowest level in 15 years and underscoring labor-market strength.
Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as improved weather conditions ushered in labor-market stabilization.
Employers in the U.S. will probably have to offer bigger pay raises to hire and retain skilled workers as the labor market tightens, according to a quarterly survey of chief financial officers.
The fewest Americans in almost 15 years filed applications for unemployment benefits during a holiday- shortened week that typically makes the data more volatile.
The drop in the number of applications back under 300,000 will help ease concern that the pace of job-market improvement was cooling heading into the holiday-shopping season.