U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inched down modestly last week, remaining at historically healthy levels despite recent high-profile layoff announcementsApplications for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, tick down to 209K last weekWASHINGTON -- U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inched down modestly last week, remaining at historically healthy levels despite recent high-profile layoff announcements. Applications for unemployment benefits are seen as representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. That, combined with the government’s own sluggish labor market data, has left Americans increasingly pessimistic about the economy. The 2025 numbers represent the smallest annual job gains since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020. The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Jan. 17 fell by 38,000 to 1.83 million, the government said.