US jobless benefit claims fall last week as labor market remains strong despite recession fears

By MATT OTT Associated Press Business Writer WASHINGTON AP U S applications for jobless benefits fell again last week as the labor arena continues to hold up despite fears of a tariff-induced recession Jobless claim applications fell by to for the week ending April the Labor Department explained Thursday That s well below the new applications analysts forecast Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and have mostly stayed between and for the past sparse years The four-week average of applications which can soften a few of the week-to-week swings fell by to The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of April jumped by to million