New U.S. unemployment benefits applications fell last week, remaining within the healthy range of recent years, according to the government's first weekly layoffs data since before the government shut down on Oct. 1.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the week ending Nov. 15 fell by 8,000 from the previous week to 220,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Data for the weeks covering the government shutdown also remained in the same range of recent years, falling between 200,000 and 250,000.

Also Thursday, the Labor Department said in a separate report that U.S. employers added a surprisingly solid 119,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, the highest since October 2021, however that's partly because 470,000 people entered the labor m

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