Associated Press Business Writer Matt Ott
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week, indicating a still healthy U.S. labor market.
The U.S. unemployment claims has dropped from 2,000 to 220,000 for the week that ends March 8, the Labor Bureau said Thursday. That’s less than expected by 226,000 new application analysts.
Some analysts expect data to emerge in the coming weeks, but it is not clear that employment ordered by the government department will appear in weekly layoff reports.
These layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce through billionaire Elon Musk’s government efficiency.
U.S. officials set it up via memos that dramatically expand the efforts of the government to scale back the movement a few weeks ago and dramatically expand President Donald Trump’s workforce. Thousands of probation employees have already been fired, and the Republican administration is now focusing on career staff with civil servant protection.
Despite showing signs of weakening over the past year, the labour market remains healthy with abundant jobs and relatively few layoffs.
The Labor Bureau reported that U.S. employers added 151,000 solid jobs last month, with employment increasing healthcare, finance, transportation and warehouse growth. The unemployment rate has been marked at a still healthy 4.1%.
Overall, layoffs remain low by historical standards, but some well-known companies have already announced their jobs this year.
Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Facebook’s parent company Meta have already trimmed its workforce in 2025.
The weekly application of unemployment benefits is considered a layoff proxy and has been in the range of 200,000-250,000 for the past few years, primarily in the 200,000-250,000 range.
The four-week average, even out some of the weekly swings, was occupied between 1,500 and 226,000.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits in the week of March 1st fell from 27,000 to 1.87 million.
Original issue: March 13, 2025 8:39am EDT
