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The number of Americans applying for jobless aid last week retreated significantly after surging to a nearly four-year high a week earlier. US filings for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 13 fell by 33,000 to 231,000, the Labour Department reported Thursday. That's less than the 241,000 analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast. The previous week, applications surged to 264,000, their highest level since the week of October 23, 2021. Last week's figure was revised up by 1,000. Concerns about the health of the American labour market led the Federal Reserve to cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point on Wednesday as many expected. The rate cut is a sign that the central bank's focus has shifted quickly from inflation to jobs as hiring has grounded nearly to a halt in recent months. Lower interest rates could reduce borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and business loans, and boost growth and hiring. The problem is that it can also exacerbate
When the Labour Department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Donald Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her. Nothing quite so dramatic is likely Friday when the department releases hiring and unemployment numbers for August. They are expected to show that companies, government agencies and nonprofits added a modest 80,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. That would be a slight improvement on July's 73,000 but still offer more evidence that the American job market has cooled significantly from last year. The unemployment rate is forecast to stay at a low 4.2 per cent suggesting that employers are stuck in a no-hire, no-fire mode: They are reluctant to add many new workers but don't want to give up the ones they have. But there are signs they may be starting to cut staff. The US job market has lost momentum this year, partly .
The American job market likely continued to slow last month, hobbled by worries over President Donald Trump's trade wars, deportations and purges of the federal workforce. The Labour Department's numbers on May hiring Friday are expected to show that businesses, government agencies and nonprofits added 1,30,000 jobs last month. That would be down from 1,77,000 in April but enough to stay ahead of people entering the workforce and keep the unemployment rate at a low 4.2 per cent, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. Mainstream economists expect Trump's policies to take a toll on America's economy, the world's largest. His massive taxes on imports tariffs are expected to raise costs for US companies that buy raw materials, equipment and components from overseas and force them to cut back hiring or even lay workers off. Billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed federal workers and cancelled government contracts. Trump's .
The number of Americans filing unemployment claims last week fell slightly as businesses continue to retain employees despite growing economic uncertainty over US trade policy. Applications for jobless benefits fell by 2,000 to 227,000 for the week ending May 17, the Labour Department said Thursday. That's pretty close to the 230,000 new applications analysts forecast. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as representative of US layoffs and have mostly bounced around a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 ravaged the economy and wiped out millions of jobs five years ago. Even though President Donald Trump has paused or dialled down many of his tariff threats, concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend the US labour market, which has been a pillar of the American economy for years. The US and China last week agreed to a 90-day pause in their trade war, giving financial markets a boost and at least temporarily ...