The number of first-time unemployment claims in the United States last week surged to the highest level in two months, despite that, the number of job cuts remains at a healthy level historically.
The US Department of Labor said on Thursday that for the week ending April 26, the number of initial jobless claims nationwide increased by 18,000 to reach 241,000 people. This exceeded analysts’ forecast of 225,000 and marks the highest number of claims in a week since late February.
The weekly number of initial jobless claims is seen as an indicator of layoff situations, which has mostly been in the healthy range of 200,000 to 250,000 over the past few years.
The data on continued claims for unemployment benefits lags a week behind. For the week ending April 19, the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the US climbed to 1.92 million, the highest level since November 2021.
Since taking office on January 20, President Trump has been committed to streamlining federal agencies and significantly reducing government staff. However, it is unclear when the job cuts requested by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by senior presidential adviser and billionaire Elon Musk will appear in the weekly layoff data. Nevertheless, the effects of federal job cuts have been felt, even outside of Washington, D.C.
Federal agencies that have announced or planned layoffs include the Department of Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Education, among others.
Despite some signs of weakening over the past year, the US labor market remains healthy, with a high number of job vacancies and relatively fewer layoffs.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration reported that US employers unexpectedly added 228,000 jobs in March. While the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2%, by historical standards, this is still a healthy figure.
The US Department of Labor will release the employment report for April on Friday.
Some well-known companies have announced layoffs this year, including Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
The Department of Labor also reported on Thursday that the four-week moving average, smoothing out week-to-week fluctuations in initial jobless claims, increased to 226,000 people, up by 5,500.
(Reference: The Associated Press)