We'll go heavy on the labor market today, and we'll grab a bite at a 24-hour diner.

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace.

In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle.izzell. It is Thursday. Today, this one is the 23rd of January. Good as always to have you along, everybody. Thursday mornings bring with metronomic regularity, a report on first-time claims for unemployment benefits. It bounces around a lot that number does.

Volatility is what economists call it.

So most of the time, first-time claims doesn't really rate a mention.

And today, in fact, those first-time claims barely ticked up just a teeny little bit.

But continuing claims for unemployment help, that is, people who've been getting benefits for at least a week

rose more than expected, which means almost 1.9 million people right now are receiving unemployment

benefits. And that is the most we've seen since November of 2021. Marketplace is Kelly Wells has more

on why and why it matters.

Some industries saw a fair number of layoffs and hiring freezes in 2024.

Allison Stevens is Senior Director of HR Solutions at Paychecks and says they're partly to blame.

I think in some pockets, the market might be flooded with qualified candidates.

And on top of that, Stephen says people might also collect unemployment longer because they're being...

Much more selective with the roles that they're seeking, such as they have decided they must work remotely.

Or are they, if they are going to go into an office, it's only going to be within a certain geographical

distance from their home.

Which is actually good for the economy because employees are more likely to stick with and

excel at a job if they wait to find one that's best for them.

But there's something else going on here.

It's January.

January is always like this.

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