employers added a healthy 253,000 jobs in April, evidence of a labor market still showing surprising resilience. That doesn't mean that more layoffs are not on the way, Shapiro said, but the numbers are likely to be less drastic compared with past economic downturns.Īlso, signs of a cooling labor market may induce the Federal Reserve to pause its furious pace of interest rate increases that are being used to cool labor market and inflation, some economists believe. “Our view remains that layoffs will rise less dramatically than normally might occur as companies do all they can to avoid shedding workers who have been incredibly difficult to recruit and retain,” said economist Joshua Shapiro of the financial and economic consulting firm Maria Fiorini Ramirez. Analysts have pointed to a sustained increase in the four-week averages as a sign that layoffs are accelerating, but are hedging their bets on whether any spike in layoffs is imminent. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 6,000 to 245,250. As a result, most economists don't envision waves of layoffs even if a recession were to strike later this year as many expect. Many employers appear to have put a premium on retaining workers after some of them were caught short-handed by the rapid post-COVID-19 economic recovery. The weekly number of applications is seen as roughly representative of the number of U.S. That’s up from the previous week’s 242,000 and is the most since November of 2021. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level in a year-and-a-half, though jobs remain plentiful by historical standards even as companies cut costs as the economy slows.Īpplications for jobless aid for the week ending May 6 rose by 22,000 to 264,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
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