USA (bbabo.net) - The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the United States has increased. In the week ending Nov. 19, the number of Americans who filed for the first time for unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 to 240,000, the highest since August and well above analysts' expectations of 225,000

The four-week moving average, which corrects week-to-week fluctuations, rose 5,500 to 226,750.

The increase in the number of applications is associated with a slowdown in demand in the labor market, which is due to the tightening of monetary policy. The Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate six times since March, by a total of 375 basis points.

At the beginning of the year, the number of new calls for help was mostly below 200,000 per week, then it started to rise and mostly decreased since it reached a peak of 261,000 in mid-July of this year.

Last week, according to a report from the Department of Labor, the number of registered unemployed in the US was 1.551 million seasonally adjusted, up 48 thousand more than 1.503 million the previous week.

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