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The
Labor Department said Thursday that 197,000 people applied for
unemployment checks last week, the fewest since mid-July and
down from a revised 198,000 the week before. The four-week
average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs,
fell to 202,250 last week from 204,000.
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. So far this year, claims have mostly
stayed below 220,000 — historically low.
The American job market has remained sturdy despite higher
energy 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 of 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 9,700 as
high interest rates and President Donald Trump’s unpredictable
trade policies discouraged hiring.
The Labor Department will release the jobs report for September
next week. It's expected to show that employers added 52,500
jobs and that the unemployment rate remained low at 4.1%,
according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.
Hiring remains well below the 166,000 monthly jobs created, on
average, in 2023 and 2024, and the 491,000 a month recorded
during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed COVID-19
lockdowns.
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