The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits edged down last week, remaining within historically low levels they’ve held since the economy clawed its way back from the COVID-19 slump.According to the Labour Department, applications for jobless claims for the week ending August 9 fell by 3,000 to 224,000. It was below the economists’ forecast of 230,000, according to AP reports.Weekly claims, a key indicator of layoffs, have largely stayed between 200,000 and 250,000 since the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 shock in 2020.The jobless benefits report showed that the four-week average of jobless claims inched up by 750 to 221,750, while the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week ending August 2 dropped by 15,000 to 1.95 million.The latest data comes amid heightened political drama over the state of the US labor market. Two weeks ago, a disappointing July jobs report, showing only 73,000 jobs added, far below the 115,000 expected, triggered a sharp market sell-off. Revisions to May and June erased another 258,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. In response, US President Donald Trump fired Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) chief Erika McEntarfer, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the data. He has since nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the agency. The BLS does not produce the weekly jobless claims report, AP reported.Beyond the political shake-up, the numbers suggest a more challenging job market. Job openings fell to 7.4 million in June from 7.7 million in May, and the quits rate a gauge of worker confidence, dropped to its lowest since December. Major employers including Microsoft, Google, Meta, Starbucks, CNN, Intel, and Disney have all announced job cuts this year.Economists say the slowdown is being fueled partly by uncertainty over Trump’s trade policies, as his staggered tariffs on US trading partners have weighed on business expansion plans. Adding to the pressure, the new government data released on Thursday showed that US wholesale inflation jumped unexpectedly last month, signaling that the import taxes are driving costs higher.
