Jobless claims decline in US. (Image: Bloomberg) Show Quick Read Summary is AI Generated. Newsroom Reviewed

Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week to 220,000, indicating that employers are largely still holding onto current workers despite economic uncertainty.

Initial claims decreased by 8,000 in the week ended Nov. 15. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 227,000 applications.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.97 million in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.

The report is the first official release on nationwide claims after a 43-day shutdown of the federal government paused data reports.

Though an increasing number of large corporations have ann

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