Continued weekly claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell to 1.827 million, the lowest since September 2024, according to the Labor Department today. Over the past five decades, it’s only during the tight labor market in 2018 and 2019 and in the years of the labor shortages in 2021 and 2022, that the level was lower. Initial applications for unemployment benefits (“initial claims”) in the week through Saturday declined to 209,000, which is historically low. And for those who refuse, well…So despite these layoff announcements that percolate through the media, this unemployment insurance data – both continued unemployment claims and initial unemployment claims – show no signs of a weakening labor market in terms of companies shedding employees. There was a huge amount of churn of that type during the labor shortages, but that churn has calmed down.