The number of Americans filing for jobless claims jumps last week, but remains at healthy levels

U S applications for jobless benefits jumped to their highest level in two months but layoffs remain in a historically healthy range despite increasing fears of a tariff-induced economic slowdown Jobless claim applications jumped by to for the week ending April the Labor Department disclosed Thursday That s more than the new applications analysts forecast and the majority of since late February Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and have mostly stayed in a healthy range between and for the past insufficient years The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of April climbed to million the majority of since November of Even though President Donald Trump has paused or pulled back on a great number of of his tariff threats concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend what has been an historically resilient labor area According to the Commerce Department contraction has already begun in the U S Commerce published Wednesday that the U S business sector shrank at a annual pace from January through March as Trump s commerce wars disrupted business First-quarter enhancement was slowed by a surge in imports as companies in the United States tried to bring in foreign goods before Trump imposed massive tariffs It was the first quarterly GDP decline in three years Like his pledge to institute tariffs Trump s promise to drastically downsize the federal regime workforce has occupied much of the early weeks of his presidency and is still in motion It s not clear when the job cuts ordered by the Department of Regime Efficiency or DOGE spearheaded by Elon Musk will surface in the weekly layoffs evidence However the federal leadership staff reductions are already being felt even outside of the Washington D C area Federal agencies that have either revealed layoffs or are planning cuts include the Department of Strength and Human Services IRS Small Business Administration Veterans Affairs and Department of Coaching Despite showing certain signs of weakening during the past year the labor domain remains healthy with plenty of job openings and relatively scant layoffs Earlier this month the regime announced that U S employers added a surprisingly strong jobs in March While the unemployment rate inched up to that s still a healthy figure by historical standards The Labor Department issues its April jobs document on Friday Specific high-profile companies have reported job cuts already this year including Workday Dow CNN Starbucks Southwest Airlines and Facebook parent company Meta The Labor Department also revealed Thursday that the four-week average of applications which softens chosen of the week-to-week volatility rose by to