The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits jumped last week, reaching the highest level in about three months — a sign that layoffs may be starting to rise and the job
market is losing momentum.
According to the Labor Department, initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 235,000 for the week ending August 16. That’s the biggest weekly increase since late May and higher than the 225,000 claims economists had expected.
The labor market has been in a tricky spot lately. Companies have been holding off on hiring while keeping layoffs relatively low, as they navigate President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies. Those tariffs have pushed the average U.S. import duty to its highest level in a century. Job growth has slowed to an average of just 35,000 new positions per month over the past three months — a sharp downshift from the pace seen earlier in the recovery. Meanwhile, U.S. consumer demand grew at its slowest pace since late 2022.
The report also showed that the number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits — a measure often seen as a gauge of how hard it is for job seekers to find work — climbed by 30,000 to 1.97 million in the week ending August 9. That’s the highest level since November 2021.
Economists say this steady rise in so-called “continuing claims” suggests the job market is cooling. It also lines up with expectations that the unemployment rate could tick up to 4.3% in August, compared to 4.2% in July. Photo by A.bayarmagnai, Wikimedia commons.
