US applications for jobless benefits fell to a 15-week low as the job market continued to show resilience in the face of the Federal Reserve's attempts to cool the economy.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the week ended Jan. 7 fell by 1,000 to 205,000, from 206,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week moving average for claims, which offsets some of the week-to-week volatility, was down 1,750 to 212,500.
Jobless claims are generally seen as a proxy for layoffs, noting a relatively low reading since the pandemic wiped out millions of jobs in the spring of 2020.
The labor market is closely watched by policymakers at the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates seven times last year in an effort to slow job growth and lower extremely high inflation.
About 1.63 million people received unemployment benefits in the week ending Dec. 31, down 63,000 from the previous week.
On the other hand, official data showed the consumer price index fell 0.1% from November bringing the annual change to 6.5%, down from 7.1% the previous month. The monthly decline in the CPI was in line with some analysts' expectations including the annual rate.
