High interest rates may finally be cooling off the American job market.
According to statistis released by the Labor Department, the number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits rose last week, climbing by some 13,000 claims to a 10-month high of 242,000 for the week ending June 8. That’s up from the 229,000 recorded the week before.
It represents the highest total since August and comes as analysts had actually estimated a drop to 225,000.
The four-week average of claims rose to 227,000, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week and the highest since September. Still, though, it’s less than the average one year ago.
Weekly unemployment claims have remained at historically low levels since millions of jobs vanished when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in the spring of 2020.
“While layoffs remain low, an increase in claims may indicate that those losing their jobs are filing for benefits because they are finding it more difficult to get new jobs,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist of Oxford Economics, according to The Associated Press. “That would be consistent with a slower pace of hiring and fewer workers leaving their jobs.”
The government also recently reported that job openings fell to 8.1 million in April, the fewest vacancies since 2021.
Though layoffs remain relatively low, some high-profile companies have been announcing more job cuts recently, mostly across technology and media. Google parent company Alphabet, Apple and eBay have all recently announced layoffs, as have Walmart, Peloton, Stellantis, Nike and Tesla have recently announced job cuts.
In total, 1.82 million were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended June 1, an increase of 30,000 and the most since early this year.
