Applications for US unemployment aid rose slightly last week

. The four-week average of applications, which smooths out some of the week-to-week swings, slipped just 250 to 221,000.

Unemployment benefit applications are a proxy for layoffs, and are being closely monitored by economists as the Fed has rapidly raised interest rates in an effort to slow job growth and inflation. Should the Fed’s rate hikes cause a recession, as many economists fear, a jump in layoffs and unemployment claims would be an early sign.

So far, the level of jobless claims remains quite low, evidence that Americans are enjoying a high degree of job security. In the coming weeks, thousands of workers with temporary jobs during the winter holidays will lose work and apply for jobless aid. The government seeks to seasonally adjust the data to account for those job losses, but the adjustments are not always perfect and the layoff of temporary workers could distort the data.

Wait. The Federal Reserve is trying to cool hiring?

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Applications for US unemployment aid rose slightly last weekThe number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose modestly last week, the latest sign that the labor market remains strong. Applications for unemployment aid for the week ending Dec. 24 climbed 9,000 to 225,000, the Labor Department reported. Urgent relief is here before it's too late to save the girl uhhhhh, if unemployment is up how can the market be up? doesnt this beg to say that the economy is not doing well as employers are not hiring?
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