New applications for unemployment insurance benefits ticked up to 260,000 in the first full week in September, the Labor Department reported Thursday, just up from an ultra-low 259,000 the week before.
Private-sector forecasters had expected a slight rise to a still-low 265,000, adjusted for seasonal variations.
Low jobless claims are a positive sign for the economy. Fewer people applying for benefits suggests fewer layoffs, and greater job growth.
Thursday’s report ensures that the signs from jobless claims will still be encouraging when Federal Reserve officials meet in Washington next week to discuss whether to raise interest rates and tighten monetary policy.
The monthly average for new claims fell to 260,750, the lowest such mark since July.
Claims are running well below the rate that would indicate rising unemployment, a rate that economists put at around 300,000.
New claims haven’t eclipsed that mark in 80 weeks, the longest such streak since 1970, when the workforce was roughly half the size it is today.
“In short, claims remain low, consistent with a still-strong trend in employment growth,” wrote Jim O’Sullivan, an economist for the forecasting firm High Frequency Economics.
Job gains have averaged 232,000 over the past three months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That average easily clears the pace that economists think is needed to keep the unemployment rate trending down.
