US applications for jobless benefits fall as labor market continues to thrive

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remained historically low levels. Jobless claims for the week ending May 18 fell by 8,000 to 215,000, down from 223,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week. In total, 1.79 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended May 11. That’s from up 8,000 from the previous week and 84,000 more than the same time one year ago.