More Americans apply for jobless benefits, but layoffs are not rising significantly

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits rose last week, but remains at healthy levels despite the Federal Reserve’s attempt to cool the labor market by raising interest rates. U.S. applications for jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 248,000 for the week ending July 1, from 236,000  previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility , fell by 3,500 by 253,250. Jobless claim applications are seen as a proxy for the number of layoffs in a given week.