New Unemployment Benefit Claims Reach 241,000, Highest in Two Months
Continuing Claims Hit Highest Level in Three and a Half Years
Economic Slowdown Signs Intensify Following First Quarter Negative Growth
Last week, the number of new unemployment benefit claims in the United States rose sharply and unexpectedly. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits, which reflect those receiving benefits for at least two consecutive weeks, also reached their highest level in three and a half years. With the labor market showing signs of weakening following negative growth in the first quarter?the first quarter after Donald Trump returned to the presidency?signs of an economic slowdown are intensifying.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor on May 1 (local time), the number of new unemployment benefit claims for the week of April 20?26 was 241,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 223,000. This exceeded the market forecast of 224,000 and marked the highest level since the end of February.
Unemployment benefit claims surged in New York State. In New York City, school employees are eligible to claim unemployment benefits during the spring break week, and this factor is believed to have contributed to the overall increase in new unemployment benefit claims.
Continuing claims for unemployment benefits, which track those receiving benefits for at least two consecutive weeks, also rose unexpectedly. For the week of April 13?19, continuing claims reached 1,916,000, the highest level since November 2021?three and a half years ago. This figure surpassed both the previous week's revised number of 1,833,000 and the expert forecast of 1,860,000. This indicates that it is taking longer for the unemployed to find new jobs.
Wall Street is closely monitoring labor market, inflation, and growth indicators to assess the economic impact of President Trump's tariff policies and federal workforce and spending cuts.
This unemployment claims data was released amid growing concerns about a recession, as the U.S. economy posted negative growth in the first quarter after President Trump returned to office. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce the previous day, first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth was -0.3% on an annualized quarter-over-quarter basis. This not only fell short of the market forecast of 0.4%, but also marked the first negative growth in three years since the first quarter of 2022 (-1.0%), when the economy suffered a severe blow from the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative growth was attributed to companies stockpiling imports ahead of tariff implementation and a reduction in government spending.
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