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Filings for benefits dipped to 206,000 last week from a revised
207,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week
volatility, also fell modestly to 206,000.
Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and
economists watch them because they can be a sign of where the
job market is headed. For the past year, claims have mostly
stayed within a historically low range of 200,000 to 230,000 a
week.
The American job market has remained sturdy despite higher
gasoline prices that have squeezed businesses and consumers
since the fighting with Iran began Feb. 28.
Layoffs are low. Businesses, remembering the labor shortages
that followed the end of pandemic lockdowns, are reluctant to
let go of staff. They're hiring — but modestly by the standards
of recent years.
So far this year, employers — companies, government agencies and
nonprofits — have been adding an average 80,000 jobs a month,
including a surprising 162,000 in August. That is an improvement
on a dismal 2025 when monthly job creation averaged less than
10,000 as high interest rates and President Donald Trump's
erratic trade policies discouraged hiring.
But it remains well below the 166,000 monthly jobs created, on
average, in 2023 and 2024, let alone the 491,000 a month
recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed COVID-19
lockdowns.
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