Last week, the number of first-time unemployment benefit claims in the USA decreased, indicating that in the final stages of 2024, the USA economy still avoided a large-scale wave of layoffs. The USA Department of Labor stated on Thursday that, for the week ending December 21, 0.219 million people applied for new unemployment benefits, compared to 0.22 million the previous week, with market expectations at 0.225 million. The current unemployment rate in the USA is 4.2%, which remains relatively moderate by the standards of the past decade. However, during 2024, the unemployment rate has slightly increased, which is a sign of a softening labor market, reflected in the decreased number of job vacancies per job seeker, a drop in the number of new jobs added, and more industries cutting back on hiring.