The number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 241,000, reaching a two-month high, raising doubts about the resilience of the labor market
As of the week ending April 26, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States rose to 241,000, reaching a two-month high and significantly higher than the market expectation of 223,000. The continued increase in unemployment benefit applications may indicate a weakening labor market, particularly with New York State seeing an increase of 15,500 claims. Although holiday factors may cause data fluctuations, the reemployment cycle for the unemployed has lengthened, with the four-week moving average rising to 226,000. The ADP report shows that the pace of hiring by businesses has fallen to a nine-month low, raising concerns about the employment outlook
According to the Zhitong Finance APP, in the week following Easter, data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that for the week ending April 26, the number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. increased by 18,000 to 241,000, the highest level since February of this year, significantly above the market expectation median of 223,000. Due to the uncertainty in the economic outlook, initial jobless claims have remained sluggish. Any sustained increase in initial jobless claims could indicate that the currently resilient job market is weakening.
Regionally, the number of claims in New York State alone increased by more than 15,500, which is related to the spring break period in some areas of the state. Unadjusted for seasonal factors, initial jobless claims increased by about 12,900 last week.
Although holiday factors often lead to data distortion, this fluctuation has still raised market alertness—continuing claims for unemployment benefits have climbed to 1.92 million, the highest level since November 2021, indicating that the reemployment cycle for the unemployed is lengthening.
More concerning is that the four-week moving average, which measures trends, has risen to 226,000, a metric that helps smooth out weekly fluctuations. This subtly echoes the layoff data monitored by Challenger, which showed that planned layoffs in April fell to 105,400, including about 2,700 layoffs related to government efficiency actions.
Andrew Challenger, the company's senior vice president, stated that the reasons for corporate layoffs include economic and new technology factors.
As cracks in the job market begin to appear, the previously released ADP employment report has further compounded the situation. Data released by ADP Research on Wednesday showed that the hiring pace of U.S. companies has fallen to the lowest level in nine months, with some service sectors also experiencing layoffs.
This trend contrasts with the non-farm data that the Federal Reserve is focused on—although economists generally expect the unemployment rate for April, to be released on Friday, to remain low at 4.2%, the unusual fluctuations in initial claims have cast a shadow over the job market.
Following the data release, the U.S. dollar index fell 17 points in a short time, currently reported at 99.74
