US applications for jobless benefits rise last week, but layoffs remain
historically low
[August 22, 2025] By
MATT OTT
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last
week, but U.S. layoffs remain in the same historically healthy range of
the past few years.
Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 16 rose
by 11,000 to 235,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s
slightly more than the 229,000 new applications that economists had
forecast.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for layoffs
and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000
and 250,000 since the U.S. began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic
more than three years ago.
While layoffs remain low by historical comparisons, there has been
noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year and mounting
evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs.
U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000
analysts forecast. Worse, revisions to the May and June figures shaved
258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up
to 4.2% from 4.1%.
That report sent financial markets spiraling, spurring President Donald
Trump to fire Erika McEntarfer, the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics,
which tallies the monthly employment numbers. The BLS does not
contribute to the weekly unemployment benefits report except to
calculate the annual seasonal adjustments.
The BLS reported earlier this week that the unemployment rate in
Washington, D.C. eclipsed 6% in July, the third straight month that it
was the highest in the U.S.
The rising D.C. jobless rate is a reflection of the mass layoffs of
federal workers by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency earlier
this year. An overall decline in international tourism — a main driver
of D.C.’s income — is also expected to have an impact on the climbing
unemployment rate in the District.
Neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, where many federal
employees reside, also saw an uptick in unemployment rates in July.
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A hiring sign is displayed at a restaurant in Mount Prospect, Ill.,
Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)
 Since the beginning of Trump’s
second term, federal workers across government agencies have been
either laid off or asked to voluntarily resign, spurring lawsuits
from labor unions and advocacy groups.
Another recent report on the U.S. labor market showed that employers
posted 7.4 million job vacancies in June, down from 7.7 million in
May. The number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence
in finding a better job — fell in June to the lowest level since
December.
Some major companies have announced job cuts this year, including
Procter & Gamble, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines,
Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent company Meta. Intel and The
Walt Disney Co. also recently announced staff reductions.
Many economists contend that Trump’s erratic rollout of tariffs
against U.S. trading partners has created uncertainty for employers,
who have grown reluctant to expand their payrolls.
The Labor Department's report Thursday showed that the four-week
average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week swings,
rose by 4,500 to 226,500.
The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for
the previous week of Aug. 9 jumped by 30,000 to 1.97 million, the
most since November 6, 2021.
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