The U.S. Department of Labor announced the latest unemployment benefits data on Thursday (19th). The number of people receiving unemployment benefits last week was 218,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previously revised 197,000, and rose to a new high since January this year. The market expected 200,000 people. Continuing unemployment claims were reported at 1.317 million, below market expectations of 1.32 million.
As of the week of May 14, the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the first time was 218,000, which was higher than the market expectation of 200,000.
In the week ended May 7, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the United States reported 1.317 million, a decrease of 25,000 from the revised 1.342 million in the previous week, lower than the market expectation of 1.32 million, and the 4-week moving average was reported at 1.362 million .
The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, reaching a four-month high, suggesting that labor demand has cooled amid tightening financial conditions, but the labor market is still tight, with the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rising since March this year. The month of March has stalled since hitting a more than 53-year low, and continued jobless claims were at their lowest since 1969 last week.
Still, economists are watching the data closely because jobless claims typically start rising before a recession. Markets are also increasingly concerned regarding the possibility of a recession in economic growth as the Federal Reserve steps up its pace of raising interest rates to tame inflation.
Rubeela Farooqi, a U.S. analyst at High Frequency Economic, said the recent shift in corporate layoffs or hiring decisions is worth noting, although labor demand still appears to be strong and supply lags should limit the number of layoffs.
Amazon (AMZN-US) and others have recently indicated plans to scale back hiring or even lay off staff, but there is still no sign that layoffs will become widespread.
Nancy Vanden Houten, U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said layoffs are expected to remain unchanged as labor shortages remain an ongoing problem, although job losses appear to be rising in the tech sector.
In addition, the May Philadelphia manufacturing index released on the same day was only 2.6, not only far below the expected 16, but also behind the previous value of 17.6, revealing signs of a slowdown in the manufacturing sector.