US jobless benefit applications rise modestly as labor market remains largely unfazed by trade war

By MATT OTT Associated Press Business Writer Slightly more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week but the labor arena remains broadly healthy despite an ongoing exchange war Jobless claim filings inched up by to for the week ending April the Labor Department stated Thursday That s less than the new applications analysts forecast Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and have mostly ping-ponged between and for the past sparse years Related Articles Cleanup underway of the Keystone oil pipeline spill in North Dakota Former Facebook executive tells Senate committee company undermined US national safeguard with China US Postal Amenity seeks to hike cost of a first-class stamp to cents The United States and China are locked in a faceoff over tariffs No one wants to blink first Woman can testify Weinstein used force to rape her despite his acquittal judge rules Even though President Donald Trump put a -day pause on largest part of his widespread tariff hikes Wednesday concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend what has been an incredibly resilient labor industry Like his pledge to institute tariffs Trump s promise to drastically downsize the federal regime workforce is fully in motion It s not clear when the job cuts ordered by the Department of Leadership Efficiency or DOGE spearheaded by Elon Musk will surface in the weekly layoffs input Federal agencies that have either revealed layoffs or are planning cuts include the Department of Fitness and Human Services IRS Small Business Administration Veterans Affairs and Department of Training Despite showing various signs of weakening during the past year the labor domain remains healthy with plentiful jobs and relatively limited layoffs Last week the governing body informed that U S employers added a surprisingly strong jobs in March and while the unemployment rate inched up to that s a healthy figure by historical standards A few high-profile companies have communicated job cuts already this year including Workday Dow CNN Starbucks Southwest Airlines and Facebook parent company Meta The four-week average of applications which aims to smooth out selected of the week-to-week swings was unchanged at The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of March fell by to million