By MATT OTT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remain at relatively healthy levels.

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid for the week ending Feb. 21 rose by 4,000 to 212,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s in line with the forecasts of analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

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Filings for unemployment benefits are viewed as representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% from 4.4%. However, government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands, reducing the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000. That’s about one-third of the previously reported 584,000 and the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020.

While weekly layoffs have remained in a historically low range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years, a number of high-profile companies have announced job cuts recently, including UPS, Amazon, Dow and the Washington Post in recent weeks.

The Labor Department also recently reported that job openings fell in December to the lowest level in more than five years.

For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job.

Data over the past year has broadly revealed a labor market in which hiring has clearly slowed, hobbled by uncertainty stoked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the lingering effects of the high interest rates the Fed engineered in 2022 and 2023 to tamp down a spike of pandemic-induced inflation.

Economists are conflicted about whether the stronger-than-expected January job gains are a one-off or possibly the first sign of a recovering labor market, which could lead the Fed to further delay more cuts to its key interest rate.

The government issues it February jobs report next week.

Some Fed officials have specifically argued that last year’s weak hiring shows that borrowing costs are weighing on growth and discouraging companies from expanding. A sustained pickup in hiring could undercut that theory.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which balances some of the week-to-week volatility, ticked up by 750 to 220,250.

The total number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the previous week ending Feb. 14 fell by 31,000 to 1.83 million, the government said.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A deadly shooting during a youth hockey game in Rhode Island last week has claimed a third victim, a grandfather whose daughter and grandson were also killed in the attack, authorities said.

Gerald Dorgan, who had been in critical condition, has died from his injuries, Pawtucket police said Wednesday.

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Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien said he was heartbroken that another person has died because of the shooting.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victim’s family, friends, and all those impacted by this tragic act of violence,” he said in a statement.

Dorgan’s daughter, Rhonda Dorgan, and grandson, Aidan Dorgan, were also killed in the shooting.

Police identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, 56, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Dorgan also went by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano, authorities said. Robert Dorgan’s ex-wife was Rhonda Dorgan and adult son was Aidan Dorgan.

Officials have said the shooter was specifically targeting family members.

Rhonda Dorgan’s mom, Linda Dorgan, and a family friend, Thomas Geruso, were wounded.

Law enforcement have credited several people who intervened and quickly stopped the attack. At least three bystanders were able to contain the shooter in the middle of the stands as the crowd fled and ran around them.

By SOPHIA TAREEN

CHICAGO (AP) — Cross-country memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. are set to begin Thursday in Chicago, the city the late civil rights leader called home.

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The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

“The outpouring of love and support received from around the globe has been abundant and deeply felt,” Jackson’s family members said in a recent statement.

Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

A person walks by a sign before the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks, however the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Flowers and items are placed outside before a public visitation for Reverend Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

“His life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be American,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., told reporters recently. “We only ask people to come and be respectful in context of the extraordinary life he lived.”

By CHAN HO-HIM and MATT OTT, AP Business Writers

U.S. futures are in a holding pattern after stronger-than-expected earnings from chipmaker Nvidia helped ease some investor worries over the artificial intelligence boom.

Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were all effectively unchanged before the opening bell Thursday.

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Nvidia rose less than 1% in overnight trading after the chipmaker and AI bellwether reported Wednesday that its latest quarterly revenue jumped 73% from a year earlier to $68 billion. The California company also gave a forecast of $78 billion for revenue in the current quarter, which exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Its CEO, Jensen Huang, said demand for Nvidia chips is still “skyrocketing.”

“AI is here, AI is not going to go back,” Huang said during a conference call.

Its robust earnings helped alleviate some concerns over whether the AI craze is real and whether huge investments will pay off. But many investors remain cautious.

Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific at Capital Economics, however argued in a research note on Thursday that “strong profit growth, as emphasized by recent earnings reports”, including Nvidia’s, is a key reason to think the S&P 500 will do well in 2026. He forecast the S&P 500 at 8,000 by the year’s end.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares were largely unchanged after the entertainment giant reported a $252 million loss in the fourth quarter. The surprise loss didn’t seem to bother investors, who are likely more interested in which acquisition offer — Netfix or Paramount Skydance — the company and its shareholders ultimately accept.

Energy drink maker Celsius Holdings soared 14% after its adjusted earnings came in ahead of Wall Street projections. The owner of Rockstar Energy drinks said its revenue grew 86% in 2025, to more than $2.5 billion.

At midday in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.9% and Germany’s DAX rose 0.5%.

Asian shares mostly advanced. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 crossed the 59,000 mark for the first time, although it later gave up some gains, rising 0.3% to 58,753.39. Shares of SoftBank Group, which has a focus on AI technology, rose 4%.

Share prices also pushed higher after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appointed two economists viewed as favoring keeping interest rates low to the board of the central bank. The Bank of Japan has been gradually raising rates from near zero.

South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.7% to 6,307.27, driven by gains for tech-related stocks. The index surpassed the 6,000 level for the first time on Wednesday. It has gained 46% since the beginning of this year after enduring a year of political upheavals that ended with former President Yoon Suk Yeol being sentenced to life in prison.

Shares of Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest listed company, jumped 7.1%. Chipmaker SK Hynix gained 8%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.4% to 26,381.02. The Shanghai Composite index barely budged, closing at 4,146.63.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 9,175.30.

Taiwan’s Taiex was flat, while India’s Sensex traded 0.1% higher.

In energy markets early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed $1.03 to $64.39 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 77 cents to $69.92 a barrel.

Gold and silver prices fell on Thursday. The price of gold lost 0.8% and the price of silver fell 5.1%.

The dollar fell to 156.01 Japanese yen from 156.39 yen. The euro fell to $1.1805 from $1.1812.