New York CNN —The number of Americans making first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped last week to a level not seen since the fall of 2022, while CEO exits set a new high last year, according to fresh economic data released Thursday. There were an estimated 187,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week that ended January 13, according to Department of Labor data released Thursday. That’s down by 16,000 claims from the week before and marked the lowest level of first-time claims — considered a proxy for layoffs — since September 24, 2022. Weekly claims data can be quite volatile and are frequently revised, and economists caution that some one-off influences — in this case, harsh weather and a new year — could be at play. “Historically, we’ve seen large economic shifts preceded by a surge in CEO exits,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.

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Persons: —, ” Andrew Challenger, Challenger, ”, “, ” Matthew Martin, Ian Shepherdson, ” Shepherdson Organizations: New, New York CNN, of Labor, Challenger, ”, Oxford Economics, ’, ” Thursday’s Labor Department Locations: New York, US