The initial unemployment benefits filing reached its highest level this year last week, another potential sign of a weak labor market.
According to reports Ministry of Labor Report Thursday.
Claim levels match the highest level since early October 2024 and have raised questions about broader economic growth and worrying signs in a recent consumer sentiment survey.
President Donald Trump has been taking positive steps to reduce the federal workforce through Elon Musk’s Advisory Committee on Government Efficiency. The efforts to date have resulted in thousands of layoffs and are expected to continue.
According to figures not adjusted for seasonal factors, in Washington, D.C., new claims totaled 2,047, an increase of 421%, or 26%. According to the Department of Labor records, this is the highest number of people in the city since March 25, 2023, and is consistent with the surge that began in early January.
However, the claim trend does not appear to spread to the surrounding areas. Virginia and Maryland both saw a small decline in the week. California also has a large number of federal workers, which has also declined.
“This report shows health benefits, but it’s not likely the initial ripples of the big unemployment claims, both from the layoffs of the federal workforce and companies like Starbucks and Southwest,” wrote Robert Frick, a corporate economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union Corp.
Continuous claims that were lagging behind for a week showed a small drop and were 1.86 million. However, the four-week average of claims helped smooth the weekly volatility, rising sharply to 224,000, an increase of 8,500.
There has been a significant increase in New England.
In Massachusetts, the total filings were 9,179, an increase of 3,731 from a week ago, while Rhode Island claims more than tripled to 2,964.
In other economic news on Thursday, orders for long-term goods such as aircraft, appliances and computers jumped unexpectedly by 3.1% in January, a potential sign of trying to make large purchases before accelerating tariffs.
The Census Bureau reports that the so-called increase Durable products Thereafter, December fell by 1.8%, which was revised from the previous estimate of a 2.2% decline. Dow Jones Jones’ forecast increased by 2%.
However, excluding up to 9.8% of shipping, it is basically flat. Orders rose 3.5% when excluding defense.
Trump announced on social media on Thursday 25% tariffs in Mexico and Canada It will take effect on March 4, and China will face a 10% fee on the same day.
In addition, the Ministry of Commerce said The U.S. economy grew 2.3% In the fourth quarter of 2024, GDP was estimated for the second time, which was unchanged from the initial figures.
The Fed follows the report’s price index compared to previous estimates. The personal consumption expenditure index for the quarter was 2.4%, and the core core earnings were 2.7% when excluding food and energy.
