The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose modestly last week, a sign that employers are still retaining workers despite economic uncertainty related to U.S. trade policy.
Jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 2 rose by 7,000, to 226,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, slightly more than the 219,000 new applications that economists had forecast.
The report is the first government labor market data release since Friday’s grim July jobs report sent financial markets spiraling downward, spurring President Donald Trump to fire the head of the agency that tallies the monthly jobs numbers.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for U.S. layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 throttled the economy in the spring of 2020.
It was just the second time in eight weeks that jobless benefit applications rose.
While layoffs remain low by historical standards, there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year.
Last week, the government reported that U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 expected. Worse, revisions to the May and June jobs figures shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
