US jobless data: More Americans seek unemployment support; modest rise amid growing tariff tensions
The number of Americans filing for jobless support rose by 7,000 last week to 226,000, according to figures released by the US department of labor on Thursday. That's slightly higher than the 219,000 new applications economists had expected for the week ending 2 August.
The report marks the first official government snapshot of the job market since last Friday's bleak July jobs report triggered a sharp sell-off on Wall Street, and a stunning political reaction.
Donald Trump, furious over the weak numbers, ordered the firing of Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which compiles the monthly jobs data.
Weekly jobless claims are widely viewed as a gauge of layoffs across the country. Despite the uptick, claims have largely remained within the historically low range of 200,000 to 250,000 since the COVID-19 crisis slammed the economy in early 2020.
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This is only the second increase in jobless applications over the past eight weeks.
Still, recent trends point to a cooling labour market.
Last week's monthly jobs report showed US employers added only 73,000 jobs in July, well below the 115,000 forecast. To make matters worse, revised estimates slashed 258,000 jobs from the May and June totals, and the unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
Many economists believe President Trump's unpredictable tariff measures, rolled out in April, have unsettled employers and made them hesitant to hire.
The latest tariffs, steep taxes on imported goods, took effect on Thursday.
While some trade deals have been reached and a few deadlines extended, uncertainty remains high. Economists warn the tariffs could drag on the economy and fuel another round of inflation.
Major corporations have been trimming staff this year. Procter & Gamble, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent Meta have all announced layoffs.
Most recently, both Intel and The Walt Disney Co confirmed job cuts.
Thursday's data also showed the four-week moving average of jobless claims dipped slightly by 500 to 220,750, offering a more stable view of the underlying trend.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week ending 26 July jumped by 38,000 to 1.97 million, the highest figure since November 2021.
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