Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. saw a slight increase last week, but layoffs continue to remain at historically low levels.
For the week ending March 15, jobless claims rose by 2,000, reaching 223,000, according to the Labor Department. This number is slightly lower than the 224,000 new applications analysts had predicted.
Jobless claims are often viewed as an indicator of layoffs, and they have generally stayed within a range of 200,000 to 250,000 over the past few years.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, increased by 750, bringing it to 227,000.
It is unclear when job cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will be reflected in the weekly layoff report. However, the February jobs report showed a reduction of 10,000 federal jobs, the largest such decline since June 2022.
Economists do not expect the federal workforce layoffs to significantly affect the jobs report until March.
The recent layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s initiative to reduce the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk.
Senior U.S. officials initiated the government downsizing late last month with a memo that significantly expanded former President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut the workforce. Thousands of probationary federal employees have already been let go, although two federal judges recently issued orders mandating the rehiring of many of these workers.
Although there have been some signs of slowing down over the past year, the labor market remains strong with plenty of job opportunities and relatively low layoffs.
The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a solid 151,000 jobs last month. While the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1%, it remains a historically healthy level.
Some well-known companies have already announced job cuts this year, including Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of March 8 increased by 33,000, reaching a total of 1.89 million.