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 field remains broadly healthy despite an ongoing deal war Jobless claim filings inched up by to for the week ending April the Labor Department disclosed 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 insufficient years Even though President Donald Trump put a -day pause on most of of his widespread tariff hikes Wednesday concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend what has been an incredibly resilient labor domain Like his pledge to institute tariffs Trump s promise to drastically downsize the federal ruling body 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 details Federal agencies that have either communicated layoffs or are planning cuts include the Department of Healthcare and Human Services IRS Small Business Administration Veterans Affairs and Department of Learning Despite showing chosen signs of weakening during the past year the labor arena remains healthy with plentiful jobs and relatively scant layoffs Last week the regime 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 Chosen high-profile companies have informed 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 a few 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