the numbers the number of americans who applied for unemployment benefits at the end of january fell to a ninemonth low of 183000 signaling the us labor market is still going strong despite more reports of corporate layoffs new applications slipped from 186000 in the prior week the government said thursday economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast new claims would total 195000 in the seven days ending jan 28 the figures are seasonally adjusted the number of people applying for jobless benefits is one of the best barometers of whether the economy is getting better or worse new unemployment filings are still historically low even though more large companies such as amazon amzn and goldman sacs gs have announced layoffs in recent months key details twentyseven of the 53 states and us territories that report jobless claims showed an increase last week most of them small the rest reported declines new claims have zigzagged since thanksgiving ranging from a high of 241000 to a low of 183000 but they show little sign of a steep erosion in a strong labor market the number of people already collecting unemployment benefits meanwhile fell by 11000 to 166 million in the week ended jan 21 they are reported with a oneweek lag these socalled continuing claims are still low but a gradual increase since last spring suggests it’s taking longer for people who lose their jobs to find a new one big picture jobless claims are one of the first indicators to deteriorate when the us is headed toward recession but right now they suggest the economy is still growing other reports on the other hand suggest us growth has slowed early in 2023 the economy could soften even further and trigger more layoffs analysts warn as the federal reserve raises interest rates to squash high inflation the fed on wednesday raised rates again fed officials worry the tight labor market is causing worker pay to rise too rapidly making it harder for them to bring inflation down the would like to see the demand for labor soften and expect higher rates to increase unemployment over the next year looking ahead “the latest jobless claims data are consistent with a tight labor market and leave the fed on track to raise interest rates again at its march meeting” said nancy vanden houten lead us economist at oxford economics market reaction the dow jones industrial average djia and sp 500 spx were set to open slightly higher in thursday trades