Last week, 243,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits, which was the same number as the previous week and the highest number in almost a year. This was due to a rise in new jobless claims in Texas after Hurricane Beryl hit the state on July 8.
The number of new claims went up by 20,000 in the seven days ending July 13. This is up from 223,000 the week before, the government said Thursday.
Even if the hurricane’s effects are taken into account, the number of new claims seems to have gone up from very low levels earlier in the year. That means that more people are being laid off and it’s taking longer for people to find work.
Analysts say that the steady rise in jobless claims is the most recent sign that U.S. growth is slowing down. This makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will soon lower interest rates.
Based on seasonally adjusted numbers, economists polled by the Wall Street Journal thought that there would be a total of 229,000 new claims.
To sum up, the number of new unemployment claims went up in 40 of the 53 states and territories that send these numbers to the federal government. They hit the other 13 times.
In Texas, the number of job applications almost doubled after Beryl hit the eastern part of the state.
Aside from Texas, most of the growth was seen in just a few states, like California, New York, and Pennsylvania. There hasn’t been much change in most other states since last year.
Not counting changes caused by the seasons, the number of jobless claims across the country went up from 258,328 in the same week last year to 279,032 last week. That might be another sign that the job market is getting worse.
The government said that the number of people already getting unemployment benefits in the U.S. went up by 20,000 to 1.87 million. It’s been that high since November 2021.
The fact that these so-called continuing claims are slowly going up shows that it’s taking longer for people who lose their jobs to find new ones.
In general, it’s clear that the job market has slowed down.
The number of job openings has dropped sharply, and it’s taking longer for people who are out of work to find work.
A lot of jobs are still being added, though, and layoffs and unemployment rates are still very low. This is keeping the economy on a steady growth path.
In the future: “The job market is slowing down enough to confirm that a cut will happen in September.” David Russell, global head of market strategy at Trade Station, said, “This week’s strong retail sales show that growth is still going strong.” “There is no “stag” and not much “flation.” The Federal Reserve may have reached its goal of a “soft landing.”
What the market thought: The S&P 500 SPX and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA were both expected to go up when they opened for business on Thursday.
