WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for jobless aid inched down last week as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels.The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 27 fell by 1,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.The government also released its more comprehensive June jobs report on Thursday, a day earlier than usual due to the July 4 holiday.That data showed that U.S. employers pulled back on hiring last month, adding only 57,000 jobs. That’s less than half the previous month’s total and a sign companies remain cautious. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.3% in May, though that decline is mostly due to the fact that many out-of-work people gave up looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.
June’s tepid hiring comes after a relative surge in job gains the previous three months, countering concerns that the war in Iran would trip up an already wobbly labor market.
