WASHINGTON (AP) – The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits decreased last week, indicating that companies did not cut a lot of jobs.
Unemployed claims for the week ending June 21 to June 21 reduced 10,000 to 236,000, an all-time low. The four-week average claim average that fluctuates every week fell by 750 to 245,000.
Applications for unemployment assistance are agents for layoffs, so the decline is evidence that companies are primarily catching employees. However, separate data suggest that hiring is still cool, too, in a case where economists call it “no hiring, no firefighting” job market.
Despite signs that the economy is slowing, the unemployment rate remains low. So far this year, employers have added a steady but unobtrusive 124,000 jobs per month, down from the average of 168,000 jobs last year. Most recruitment is concentrated in some industries, especially healthcare, restaurants and hotels, and government. Most of the layoffs remained low, but the recruitment was also weak.
However, for many people seeking a job, the dullness of a new job is a challenge. For more than a decade, recent college graduates have faced the toughest job market. Now, the unemployment rate for graduates aged 22 to 27 is higher than the overall unemployment rate, and the gap between the two is the gap in the 30s.
The difficulties of many unemployed people in finding jobs can be seen as the number of people who continue to ask for unemployment assistance, the week ended June 14, the most since November 2021.
Additionally, the economy fell 0.5% at an annual rate in the first three months of the year, worse than previous estimates of a 0.2% decline, the Commerce Department said Thursday. As companies are anxious to flood the economy before Trump administration tariffs take effect.
A category in GDP data measures the basic strength of the economy's annualized rate rose 1.9% from January to March, down from 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This category includes consumer spending and private investment, but does not include volatile items such as exports, inventory and government spending.
