From July 10 to 16, 251,000 people applied for benefits, 7,000 more than the previous week, and much more than the expectations of economists who expected a drop to 240,000.
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Weekly jobless claims increased again last week in the United States, and reached their highest level since November 2021, despite the persistent difficulties of employers to find labor.
From July 10 to 16, 251,000 people filed for unemployment benefits, up 7,000 from the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
This is much more than the expectations of economists who were counting on a drop, to 240,000.
In total, nearly 1.4 million people received unemployment benefit during the week of July 3 to 9, up 51,000 over one week, according to data published with a week lag.
However, this increase is not “significant”, according to economist Ian Shepherdson, of Pantheon Macroeconomics, who underlines that “the figures remain distorted” by the annual closures of production lines at car manufacturers, “which poses problems for seasonal adjustment as the timing and extent of shutdowns vary from year to year”.
“The underlying trend will reappear when the distortions fade in early August,” he adds, estimating that there should then be only “a slight increase compared to the trend of 230,000 before the closings. in the automobile, the level of registrations remaining very low compared to historical standards”.
Since the spring of 2021, employers, faced with labor shortages and massive resignations every month, have been hesitant to lay off workers and instead offer improved salary conditions to retain their employees and recruit new employees.
“Fed rate hikes – aimed not only at reducing inflation but also at rebalancing the supply and demand for workers – should lead to easing labor market conditions and a further increase in layoffs over the next few months. months,” notes Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.
The American central bank has in fact gradually raised its key rates since March, to slow down consumption, and therefore inflation, which has been at its highest for 40 years.
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