U.S. Joblessness Claims Hit 8-Month Peak

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits remained stable last week, holding steady at a higher level amid ongoing concerns about the effects of trade conflicts.
The Labor Department revealed on Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits totaled 248,000 for the week ending June 7, slightly above analysts’ expectations of 244,000.
A week prior, the figures hit 248,000, reaching their highest point since early October, potentially indicating an upward trend in layoffs.
Generally, the weekly jobless claims data is seen as a reliable indicator of layoffs across the United States, with figures mostly oscillating within a historically favorable range of 200,000 to 250,000 since the economy faced a dramatic downturn five years ago due to COVID-19’s economic impact.
In the last three weeks, however, these applications have remained nearer the upper end of this spectrum, causing some alarm among analysts.
“We’ve noticed early signs of strain in the labor market,” said Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union. “If layoffs escalate this summer, worries about a potential recession and reduced consumer spending might grow.”
Many companies, when delivering their latest earnings reports, have adjusted their projections for 2025, reducing their sales and profit expectations or choosing not to provide guidance at all. They often attribute these cautious updates to the consistent barrage of tariff announcements by President Donald Trump.
Despite Trump pausing or scaling back many of these tariff threats, there remains unease that a tariff-induced downturn in the global economy could dampen the strong U.S. labor market.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has acknowledged increased risks of both rising unemployment and inflation. This scenario complicates the central bank’s dual objective of price stability and low unemployment, especially as tariffs have affected both consumer and business confidence.
Earlier in May, the Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark lending rate at 4.3% for a third consecutive meeting after three rate cuts at the end of the previous year.
Recently, the Labor Department noted a slowdown in U.S. hiring for May, though employers added a solid 139,000 positions despite uncertainties tied to Trump’s trade policies.
Another report released last week indicated a surprising rise in U.S. job openings in April, though other indicators suggested diminishing optimism among Americans about the job market.
This report indicated a rise in layoffs and a decrease in the number of Americans voluntarily leaving their jobs, typically a sign of confidence in future job prospects. Also, there was one job available for every unemployed person, a decline from as recently as December 2022, when there were two openings per unemployed individual.
The government also estimates that the U.S. economy contracted at a 0.2% annual rate in the first quarter of 2025. This marked an upgrade from their initial estimate, but growth was hindered by an increase in imports as businesses rushed to secure foreign goods ahead of Trump’s impending tariffs.
Trump’s strategy aims to reshape global economic dynamics by significantly raising import taxes in hopes of reviving the U.S. manufacturing sector.
In addition, the president is attempting to substantially reduce the federal government’s workforce. However, many of these proposed cuts are facing legal challenges and pushback from Congress.
This week, Google announced it had offered buyouts to another set of employees as part of cost-reduction measures, ahead of a court decision that could mandate the disbanding of its online holdings.
Several other companies have declared job cuts this year, including Procter & Gamble, Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
The government’s report on Thursday also showed that the four-week average of jobless claims, which helps smooth out weekly fluctuations, rose by 5,000 to 240,250.
For the week ending May 31, the total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits surged by 54,000, reaching 1.96 million, the highest since November of 2021.