WASHINGTON (Reuters -The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the labor market has softened as both demand for and supply of workers have diminished.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 33,000 to a seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ended September 13, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The decline partially reversed a surge in the prior week, which had pushed claims to levels last seen in October 2021.

That increase in applications was concentrated in Texas, with the state’s Workforce Commission later saying it had since the September 1 Labor Day holiday “observed an uptick in identity fraud claim attempts aimed at exploiting the unemployment insurance system.”

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast

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