Last week, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefit dropped. This shows that the labor markets are stable and unlikely to be affected negatively by any potential import tariff volatility.
According to Reuters, economists had predicted that 225,000 initial claims would be filed.
In February, the government reported 1,07 new job openings for every unemployed person. The number of job openings per unemployed person in February was 1.07 down from 1.13 for January.
Economists worry that the avalanche in tariffs that Donald Trump has implemented since his return to the White House in January last year may harm the labor market.
Business and consumer confidence has dropped. This could have an impact on investment, spending and the demand for employees.
Trump sees tariffs as a way to generate revenue to offset his tax cuts and revitalize an industry in the United States that has been on the decline for some time. The economists do not share this view.
The labor markets are also threatened by the deep cuts in spending implemented by Trump’s government, including mass firings federal employees.
A small subset of claim reports have yet to provide any evidence that mass shootings occurred despite ongoing court battles.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a worldwide outplacement firm, announced Thursday that it tracked 280,253 federal layoffs planned and contractor terminations affecting 28 agencies over the past two months. According to the firm, more than half the 497.052 layoffs announced in the first quarter took place in Washington D.C.
While overall layoffs have remained historically low, hiring has been tepid, resulting in those who lose their jobs experiencing long spells of unemployment. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 56,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.903 million during the week ending March 22, the claims report showed.
Since they are outside the survey period, claims data will not affect the employment report for March. According to a Reuters survey, nonfarm payrolls should have increased by 135,000 jobs in the last months, following an increase of 151,000 positions in February. The rate of unemployment will remain at 4,1%.
