Fed meets again to discuss response to Trump’s tariffs

Fewer Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week than the week before, new data showed Wednesday.

However, the closely watched data point has trended upwards in recent weeks, indicating that layoff activity is at its highest level in nearly two years.

There were an estimated 245,000 initial filings for unemployment insurance filed during the week that ended June 14, according to Department of Labor data released Wednesday (one day early due to the Juneteenth federal holiday). That’s down 5,000 filings from the upwardly revised tally the week before.

Economists’ consensus estimates were for 250,000 filings, according to FactSet.

Jobless claims data can be highly volatile and is frequently revised, but it can provide a timelier snapshot of shifts occurring in the labor market. The weekly reports have risen in importance as a potential indicator for how the sweeping actions taken by President Donald Trump — including steep tariffs, cutbacks to the federal workforce and reductions in immigration — are impacting the economy.

The US labor market has cooled significantly during the past year, and the pullback in job growth has largely been attributed to employers reining in hiring rather than conducting mass layoffs.

That trend, however, has meant that it’s taken longer for unemployed people to find work. Continuing claims, which are filed by people who have received jobless benefits for at least one week, have been hovering near three-and-a-half-year highs.

During the week ended June 7, the number of continuing claims inched down by 6,000 to 1.945 million. Also, during that week, there were 535 federal workers who filed for unemployment, falling from 561 the week before but running higher than the prior year’s number of 419.