U.S.: Unemployment insurance claims remain high
The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance remained elevated last week, a possible indication that rising interest rates are finally taking their toll on a labor market that has shown resilience.
Applications for jobless aid were 262,000 for the week ended June 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday, more than analysts anticipated. This week’s figure is similar to the previous week’s figure, which was revised upward by 1,000. Orders for the last two weeks are the highest since October 2021.
The four-week average, which is less volatile than the weekly average, increased by more than 9,000 to 246,750. That is the highest level since November 2021.
U.S. employers have added jobs at a breakneck pace since more than 20 million jobs disappeared in the worst of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Americans have enjoyed unusual job security, despite the Federal Reserve’s intense attempts to cool the economy and the labor market in order to combat inflation.
On Wednesday, the U.S. central bank opted to pause its interest rate increases for the first time in 15 months, although some officials predicted another quarter-point hike before the end of the year.
The rate increases have gradually helped tame inflation, but not as quickly as some had hoped. The labor market remains unusually robust despite the central bank’s more than a year of trying to cool it.
U.S. employers added 339,000 jobs last month, far more than expected, painting a mostly encouraging picture of the labor market even as the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%. In April, employers opened 10.1 million positions, up from 9.7 million in March and the most since January. Economists had expected a decline in job openings.