U.S. jobless claim applications fell by 13,000 last week as layoffs remain low

WASHINGTON — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell by 13,000 last week, remaining in the same historically healthy range of the past few years even as concerns grow about the health of the labor market.

The number of Americans applying for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 13 declined by 13,000 to 224,000 from the previous week’s 237,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s more than analysts’ forecast of 200,000 new applications.

Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 500 to 217,500.

The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Dec. 6 rose by 67,000 to 1.9 million, the government said.