After a couple of weeks of rising first-time unemployment claims, fewer Americans applied for assistance last week.
According to statistics released by the Labor Department, the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits fell to 245,000. That’s a slight drop from the previous week’s total of 250,000.
Since Covid hit the U.S. in March 2020, taking millions of jobs with it, unemployment claims have generally hovered between some 200,000 and 250,000.
The four-week average of claims rose to 245,500, the highest since August 2023. The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits the week of June 7 slid to 1.95 million, according to the Labor Department.
In recent weeks, however, claims have stayed at the high end of range, adding to evidence that U.S. job market is decelerating after years of strong hiring, The Associated Press reported. So far this year, employers are adding 124,000 jobs a month, down from an average 168,000 last year and an average of nearly 400,000 from 2021 through 2023.
Carl Weinberg of High Frequency Economics told the AP he is worried that claims remain elevated compared with recent years, when employment has remained very low by historical standards.
“We believe firms have been ‘hoarding’ workers to ensure that they don’t lay off skilled and trained workers by mistake, especially with the labor market still very close to full employment,” Weinberg wrote. “With uncertainty still high … companies have remained hesitant about layoffs. That may be changing.”
