US jobless claim filings rise modestly to 214,000 last week, remain at
historically healthy levels
[April 24, 2026] By
MATT OTT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment
benefits inched up last week but remains within the historically healthy
range of recent years.
U.S. jobless aid applications for the week ending April 18 rose by 6,000
to 214,000, up from the previous week’s 208,000, the Labor Department
reported Thursday. That’s slightly more than the 210,000 new
applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.
Filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S.
layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job
market.
The Iran war, now in its eighth week, has injected a large degree of
uncertainty about how it will affect the U.S. and global economies even
as Iran and the U.S. remain under a ceasefire agreement.
U.S. financial markets have rebounded to record levels and prices for a
barrel of U.S. crude oil have settled in around $94 per barrel. That’s
better than the $112 earlier this month, but still 40% higher than
before the war began. Gas prices also remain elevated, saddling
businesses and consumers with higher costs.
The largest monthly jump in gas prices in six decades sent consumer
prices up 3.3% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department
recently reported. That’s up sharply from just 2.4% in February and the
biggest yearly increase since May 2024. On a monthly basis, prices rose
0.9% in March from February, the largest such increase in nearly four
years.
This comes at a time when U.S. inflation was already above the Federal
Reserve’s 2% target, further diminishing the chances of an interest rate
cut by central bank officials any time soon. Lower interest rates can
boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to fuel inflation.
Fed officials voted to cut rates three times to close 2025 out of
concern for a weakening job market but have held off lowering rates
further this year. The Fed meets next week to decide on rates.
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 The Labor Department reported
earlier this month that U.S. employers added an unexpectedly strong
178,000 new jobs in March, nudging the unemployment rate back down
to 4.3%. That followed a surprisingly large loss of 92,000 jobs in
February. Revisions also have trimmed 69,000 jobs from December and
January payrolls, a sign that the labor market remains under strain.
A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs
recently, including Morgan Stanley,Block, UPSand Amazon.
Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly
between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the
pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years
ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s
erratic tariff rollouts, his purge of the federal workforce and the
lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.
Employers added fewer than 200,000 jobs last year, compared with
about 1.5 million in 2024, according to the data firm FactSet.
The American labor market appears stuck in what economists call a
“low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate
historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find
a new job.
The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week
moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly
volatility, inched up by 750 to 210,750.
The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for
the previous week ending April 11 rose by 12,000 to 1.82 million.
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