APSOCATION PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER, MATT OTT
Last week, many Americans filed unemployment claims, but the labor market is healthy and layoffs are still relatively small.
The Labor Bureau said Thursday that US applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending February 1st increased from 11,000 to 219,000. Analysts were projecting only 213,000 new applications.
The weekly application of unemployment benefits is considered representative of layoffs.
The four-week average, which equals some of the weekly volatility, increased from 4,000 to 216,750.
Last year, the labour market began to show slight signs of weakness, but employment remains plentiful and layoffs have historically been low.
Last month, the Labor Bureau reported that employment growth in December had skyrocketed and unemployment rates fell. Employers added 256,000 jobs in the last month of 2024, bringing the unemployment rate down to 4.1%.
The 2024 final employment report showed that the economy and employment could grow at a solid pace, even at interest rates that were much higher than before the pandemic.
The Labor Bureau will announce its January employment numbers early on Friday. Economists surveyed by Factset believe that US employers added 170,000 jobs in the first month of 2025.
As expected last week, the Federal Reserve left only the benchmark lending rate after issuing three cuts in late 2024. Fed officials are keeping an eye on inflation and the labour market for signs that could weaken the economy. They are only looking forward to two interest rate cuts this year, which will decrease from the previous four projections.
Overall, layoffs remain low by historical standards, but many companies have already announced their jobs this year.
Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks and Facebook’s parent company Meta has already trimmed its workforce in 2025.
In late 2024, GM, Boeing, Cargill and Stellantis announced their layoffs.
The total number of Americans who received unemployment benefits on January 25th reached an increase of 36,000 from the previous week.
Original issue: February 6, 2025, 8:42am EST
