191_November 12th_American's unemployment rate

[Jessica]

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits ticked off the last week but layoffs still remain at historically low levels. 

The Labor Department reported that jobless claim applications rose by three thousand this week.

That's fewer than analysts had forecast.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits were considered as representative of US layoffs in a given week.

Last week, the US economy produced fewer jobs but economics pointed to recent strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temperally off the payrolls.

I'm Haya Hapen Panjawani, Washington