U.S. applications for jobless benefits rose modestly last week as business continue to retain workers despite fears of a possible economic downturn.
Jobless claim applications inched up by 6,000 to 222,000 for the week ending April 19, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s just barely more than the 220,000 new applications analysts forecast.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, and have mostly stayed in a healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years.
Even though President Donald Trump has paused or pulled back on many of his tariff threats, concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend what has been an historically resilient labor market.
Early Thursday, the head of the International Monetary Fund urged countries to move “swiftly’’ to resolve trade disputes that threaten global economic growth.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the unpredictability of Trump’s aggressive campaign of taxes on foreign imports is causing companies to delay investments and consumers to pull back spending. Georgieva’s comments came two days after the IMF downgraded the outlook for world economic growth this year.
Like his pledge to institute tariffs, Trump’s promise to drastically downsize the federal government workforce has occupied much of the early weeks of his presidency and is still in motion.
It’s not clear when the job cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency — or “DOGE,” spearheaded by Elon Musk — will surface in the weekly layoffs data. However, the federal government staff reductions are already being felt, even outside of the Washington, D.C. area.
Federal agencies that have either announced layoffs or are planning cuts include the Department of Health and Human Services, IRS, Small Business Administration, Veterans Affairs and Department of Education.
Despite showing some signs of weakening during the past year, the labor market remains healthy with plenty of job openings and relatively few layoffs.
Earlier this month, the government reported that U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 228,000 jobs in March. While the unemployment rate inched up to 4.2%, that’s still a healthy figure by historical standards.
Some high-profile companies have announced job cuts already this year, including Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Facebook parent company Meta.
Thursday's report also showed that the four-week average of applications, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility ticked down by 750 to 220,250.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of April 12 declined by 37,000 to 1.84 million.
Matt Ott, The Associated Press
