A hiring representative speaks with a job seeker at a job-and-resource fair hosted by the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, in partnership with NCWorks, in Hendersonville, North Carolina, on November 19, 2024. Photographer: Allison Joyce/Bloomberg.

Applications for unemployment benefits in the United States unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level since April, illustrating that the job market remains solid. Initial claims decreased by 6,000, to 213,000, in the week ended November 16. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 220,000 applications.

However, continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people currently receiving benefits, climbed to 1.91 million in the previous week, a three-year high, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The increase reflected a jump in Washington, tied to secondary effects from a strike at Boeing Co. that has since been settled.

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