American requests for unemployment benefits increased modestly last week as businesses continue to retain workers despite the fears of a possible economic recession.
The applications for unemployment claim increased from 6,000 to 222,000 for the week that ended on April 19, the Labor Department said Thursday. That is just more than the 220,000 new application analysts.
Weekly applications for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, and have mainly maintained in a healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 in recent years.
Although President Donald Trump has arrested Or he backed away many of his tariff threats, there are concerns about a global economic slowdown that could fly what has been a historically resistant labor market.
Like his promise to institute tariffs, Trump’s promise to drastically reduce the federal government’s workforce occupied much of the first weeks of his presidency and is still moving.
It is not clear when the employment cuts ordered by the Government Efficiency Department, or “Dux”, headed by Elon Musk, will appear in the weekly layoff data. However, the reductions of federal government personnel They are already feelingeven outside the Washington area, DC.
Federal agencies that have announced layoffs or are planning cuts include Department of Health and Human Services, Irs, Small Business Administration, Veterans issues and Department of Education.
Despite showing some signs of weakening during the past year, the labor market is still healthy with many work openings and relatively few dismissals.
Earlier this month, the government reported that US employers added a surprisingly strong 228,000 jobs In March. While the unemployment rate increased up to 4.2%, that remains a healthy figure according to historical standards.
Some high -profile companies have already announced employment cuts this year, including Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and the Metrizo Meta Matrix.
Thursday’s report also showed that the average requests for four weeks applications, which equals part of the volatility of the week a week marked at 750 to 220,250.
The total number of Americans who receive unemployment benefits for the week of April 12 decreased by 37,000 to 1.84 million.
