![]() ![]() One of the Fed’s goals in raising interest 10 times in the past 14 months is to cool the job market and stifle rising wages. Last week, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate another quarter point. job openings fell in March to the lowest level in nearly two years. The government also recently reported that U.S. But the figures for February and March were recalculated and lowered by 149,000 jobs, potentially signaling that the Fed maneuvers are beginning to become evident. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, matching a 54-year low. employers added a healthy 253,000 jobs in April, evidence of a labor market still showing surprising resilience. “Our view remains that layoffs will rise less dramatically than normally might occur as companies do all they can to avoid shedding workers who have been incredibly difficult to recruit and retain,” said economist Joshua Shapiro of the financial and economic consulting firm Maria Fiorini Ramirez. Analysts have pointed to a sustained increase in the four-week averages as a sign that layoffs are accelerating, but are hedging their bets on whether any spike in layoffs is imminent. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 6,000 to 245,250. As a result, most economists don’t envision waves of layoffs even if a recession were to strike later this year as many expect. Many employers appear to have put a premium on retaining workers after some of them were caught short-handed by the rapid post-COVID-19 economic recovery. ![]() The weekly number of applications is seen as roughly representative of the number of U.S. That’s up from the previous week’s 242,000 and is the most since November of 2021. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in a year-and-a-half, though jobs remain plentiful by historical standards even as companies cut costs as the economy slows.Īpplications for jobless aid for the week ending May 6 rose by 22,000 to 264,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
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