The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, but remained at levels consistent with a healthy labor market.

U.S. retail sales increased in December as households bought motor vehicles and a range of other goods, pointing to strong demand in the economy and further reinforcing the Federal Reserve's cautious approach to cutting interest rates this year.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee said he feels more comfortable that the labor market is stabilizing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. "I have over the last several months become more comfortable that this is a stabilization of the job market at a full-employment-like level,

President–elect Donald Trump’s plans to shrink the federal workforce would have disparate impacts on Black employment, while potentially eroding a key conduit to economic mobility that many Black families have relied on for generations.

U.S. job growth unexpectedly accelerated in December while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% as the labor market ended the year on a solid footing, reinforcing views that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged this month.

The Labor Department's Friday release of December employment data showed a strong finish to the year for hirings, surpassing expectations and highlighting the resilience of the U.S. labor market. Sam Williamson,

The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States and the anchor of the ... said it was lowering the target range, citing "labor market conditions have generally eased, and the ...