Dive Brief:

• Unemployment benefits claims in the U.S. reached 260,000 during the week of Oct.10-14, a jump of 13,000 from the four-decade low recorded during the previous week, according to Labor Dept. data cited in a report from Bloomberg.
• The report says some of the claims may have been the result of Hurricane Matthew's landfall, as many of the claims in affected states were filed during that time, prior to seasonal adjustments. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. originally projected nearly 10,000 extra jobless claims to be filed by those affected by the storm.
• Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims rose by 7,000 during the week ending on Oct. 8, but remain at their lowest point since 2000, per Bloomberg. New filings have remained below 300,000 total for a period of 85 straight weeks, which is the longest such streak since 1970.

Dive Insight:

It's not a significant large-scale increase for the unemployment benefits claims, which means such low rates will continue to impact talent search efforts. The findings are, however, an encouraging sign of a healthy labor market overall, even if wages aren't projected to rise by that much.

HR leaders worried about a narrower talent pool are discovering that creative and productive solutions, like inclusive benefits packages, may save talent at risk of leaving. Other trends like 'returnships' have contributed to tapping into an existing amount of mid-level talent that is simply not participating in the workforce.