Jobless claims in the U.S. fell during last week

DORAL, FL – Jobless claims for the week of Aug. 3 fell by 17,000 to 233,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 240,000 analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting.

This is good news when compared with the last week of the past month. Continuing claims, which represent the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits, rose by 6,000 for the week of July 27 to 1.88 million, the highest rise in more than three years that, according to analysts, is not a concerning figure. 

Most economists have stated that the July claims don’t constitute a sign of an upcoming recession, but more a sign that the economy is growing slowly. 

The current August numbers are reassuring considering last week many economists and traders expressed its concerns after the government reported a much lower-than-expected job gain for July and the unemployment rate reached 4.3%, its highest point since October 2021.

Filings for unemployment benefits have been consistently higher since May. Last week’s 250,000 claims were the highest in a year. Since May, applications have averaged about 232,000 per week, while in the three previous months, weekly claims averaged just 212,000.

Weekly unemployment claims match the current growing tendency to layoffs the job market is experiencing across all industries. Still, analysts say layoffs remain at historically healthy levels. There have been job cuts nationwide, from media companies like Axios or CNN to the agricultural manufacturer Deer. 

Thursday’s report also indicated the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 2,500 to 240,750.

“None of the data necessarily portends an imminent recession”, says AP, but the scenario combined “it is building a case for the Fed to cut its benchmark rate in September.”

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