U.S. first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose to 209,000 last week, up from a revised 200,000 the prior week and above the 205,000 forecast by analysts, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
US jobless claims rise to 209,000, topping forecasts but remaining near historic lows
U.S. first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose to 209,000 last week, up from a revised 200,000 the prior week and above the 205,000 forecast by analysts, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week moving average of applications, which the Labor Department uses to smooth out week-to-week volatility, was unchanged at 199,000. The total number of people collecting unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 1 fell by 22,000 to 1.78 million.
Weekly claims have held in a range of approximately 200,000 to 230,000 for the past year, a level the article describes as historically low. The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 4.1%.
Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary that 'the labor market has yet to show any sign of wear and tear from the surge in oil prices since the start of the war with Iran and the global energy supply shock.' The article attributes the energy price spike to fighting with Iran but does not specify further.
Economists describe the current environment as a 'no hire, no fire' job market. Companies scarred by worker shortages that followed the end of COVID-19 lockdowns four to five years ago are, according to the article, reluctant to shed staff but equally reluctant to hire.
Last month, employers across companies, government agencies, and nonprofits collectively cut 23,000 jobs rather than adding them, according to a Labor Department report published last week. So far this year, employers are adding an average of 61,000 jobs per month — an improvement over the 9,700-per-month average in 2024, which the article calls the weakest hiring pace outside a recession since 2002. Monthly job creation this year remains well below the average of 166,000 in 2023 and 2024, and the 491,000-per-month pace recorded during the 2021–2022 post-pandemic hiring boom.
The article attributes the weak 2025 hiring pace partly to the lingering effects of high interest rates and what it describes as President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies.
- The source does not state which specific conflict with Iran is being referenced or when it began.
- The source does not identify which forecasters predicted 205,000 claims or how that consensus was compiled.
- The source does not state the date of the week for which 209,000 claims were filed.
- The source does not explain what drove the four-week average to hold steady despite the weekly rise.
- The source does not provide an independent or government response to characterizations of Trump administration trade policy as erratic.
- The source text supplied appears truncated; some material may be missing.
Read the original at Associated Press