The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn’t change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool hiring. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending April 13 were unchanged from the previous week’s 212,000.
Quick Read
- Stable Unemployment Claims: The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits remained unchanged last week, with unemployment claims holding steady at 212,000 for the week ending April 13.
- Four-Week Average: The four-week average of claims, which reduces weekly fluctuations, also remained unchanged at 214,500.
- Economic Context: Despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labor market by raising interest rates 11 times since March 2022, the U.S. labor market continues to exhibit strength.
- Employment Growth: Last month, U.S. employers added 303,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate dipped to 3.8%, maintaining a streak of sub-4% unemployment rates for 26 consecutive months—the longest since the 1960s.
- Sector-specific Layoffs: Recent job cuts have been announced predominantly in the technology and media sectors, with companies like Alphabet, Apple, eBay, and Amazon reducing their workforce.
- Jobless Benefits: As of the week ending April 6, a total of 1.81 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits, a slight increase of 2,000 from the week prior.
The Associated Press has the story:
U.S. Jobless claims are steady, signaling robust labor market
Newslooks- (AP)
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn’t change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool hiring. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending April 13 were unchanged from the previous week’s 212,000.
The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, was also unchanged at 214,500.
Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week and a sign of where the job market is headed. They have remained at historically low levels since the pandemic purge of millions of jobs in the spring of 2020.
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times beginning in March of 2022 in a bid to stifle the four-decade high inflation that took hold after the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed’s intention was to loosen the labor market and cool wage growth, which it said contributed to persistently high inflation.
Many economists thought there was a chance the rapid rate hikes could cause a recession, but jobs have remained plentiful and the economy forged on thanks to strong consumer spending.
Last month, U.S. employers added a surprising 303,000 jobs, yet another example of the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. The unemployment rate dipped from 3.9% to 3.8% and has now remained below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.
Though layoffs remain at low levels, companies have been announcing more job cuts recently, mostly across technology and media. Google parent company Alphabet, Apple, eBay, TikTok, Snap, Amazon, Cisco Systems and the Los Angeles Times have all recently announced layoffs.
Outside of tech and media, UPS, Macy’s, Tesla and Levi Strauss also have recently cut jobs.
In total, 1.81 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 6, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week.
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