Associated Press Business Writer Matt Ott
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans applying for unemployed aid has fallen for six consecutive weeks, reaching its lowest level since mid-April.
The Labor Bureau reported Thursday that unemployment claims fell from 4,000 to 217,000 for the week ending July 19th. That’s less than 227,000 new application analysts expected.
An application for unemployment assistance is considered representative of the layoff.
Earlier in July, the Labor Bureau reported that US employers added an astounding 147,000 jobs in June, adding evidence that the US labor market continues to show resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. Employment benefits were higher than expected, with unemployment falling to 4.1% from 4.2% in May.
The job market is very sound by historical standards, but some weaknesses have emerged, as employers are fighting Trump’s policies, particularly his fallout from his aggressive tariffs that raise prices for businesses and consumers. Most economists believe that import obligations will reduce economic efficiency by reducing competition. They could also induce retaliatory tariffs from other countries, hurt US exporters and promote businesses to freeze or reduce jobs.
Most deadlines for Trump’s strict proposed import taxes have been extended again until August 1st. Unless Trump reaches deals with the country to lower tariffs, economists fear acting as resistance to the economy and causing another match of inflation.
Companies that announced jobs this year include Procter & Gamble, Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent company Meta.
The Labor Department report on Thursday showed that the average four-week billing to equalize some of the weekly volatility fell from 5,000 to 224,500.
The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the week of July 12 remained stable, up from just 4,000 to 1.96 million.
Original issue: July 24th, 2025 9:04am EDT
