The labor market is continuing to improve as the US unemployment report shows that the number of Americans filing for unemployment remains the same from last week.

The numbers were expected to increase for Thursday’s report, but that has not happened. Instead, the numbers remain the same, prompting a positive outlook for the US jobs market and the slowing growing economy.

The Labor Department issued its report for Thursday stating that the 217,000 unemployment claims numbers have not increased as was expected. Estimates had placed the increase to be 3,000, but the numbers showed no increase at all. Some economic analysts had pegged the unemployment numbers to slightly decrease to 215,000.

There are now 1.45 job openings for each unemployed individual, according to the numbers for January. These figures come from government data released on Wednesday. The job opening rate is down from where it was last year at this time, which was 1.82 per person. However, the job opening numbers are far better than they were during the worst of the pandemic at 1.2 per person.

The Labor Market at a Glance

The US labor market is easing according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book. Their report on Wednesday showed a slightly improving labor market. They also expect inflation to decrease and the economy to continue its recovery. While waiting for positive numbers for those factors, the Fed refused to commit to any date for interest cuts.

Unemployment claims are at incredibly low levels right now, and that is even with the high number of layoffs that started the year. Because workers are difficult to find and keep, many employers are hesitant to fire anyone. The silent quitting movement has hurt employers across the US and made it difficult for many of them to retain their employees.

Layoff numbers are up, increasing to 84,638 for the month of February, which is up 3% from the previous month.