US filings for jobless aid, a proxy for layoffs, inch down modestly last week as uncertainty lingers

By MATT OTT Associated Press Business Writer WASHINGTON AP The number of Americans filing unemployment states last week fell slightly as businesses continue to retain employees despite growing economic uncertainty over U S deal initiative Applications for jobless benefits fell by to for the week ending May the Labor Department reported Thursday That s pretty close to the new applications analysts forecast Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as representative of U S layoffs and have mostly bounced around a historically healthy range between and since COVID- ravaged the commercial sector and wiped out millions of jobs five years ago Even though President Donald Trump has paused or dialed down multiple of his tariff threats concerns remain about a global economic slowdown that could upend the U S labor sector which has been a pillar of the American financial system for years The U S and China last week agreed to a -day pause in their commerce war giving financial markets a boost and at least temporarily relieving specific of the anxiety over the impact of tariffs on the U S financial sector Earlier this month the Federal Reserve held its benchmark lending rate at for the third straight meeting after cutting it three times at the end of last year Fed chair Jerome Powell announced the promising for both higher unemployment and inflation are elevated an remarkable combination that complicates the central bank s dual mandate of controlling prices and keeping unemployment low Powell explained that tariffs have dampened consumer and business sentiment and the authorities in the past few days shared that the U S financial market shrank at a annual pace in the first quarter of Progress was slowed by a surge in imports as companies in the U S tried to bring in foreign goods before Trump s massive tariffs went into effect Related Articles Rapper Kid Cudi is set to testify at the Sean Diddy Combs trial Here s what we know about the DC shooting where staff members of the Israeli Embassy were killed This day in History May strongest earthquake recorded strikes Chile staff members of Israeli Embassy killed in shooting near Jewish museum in DC Survivors of clergy sexual abuse turn up calls for reforms from new pope s American hometown Trump is attempting to reshape the global market by dramatically increasing import taxes to rejuvenate the U S manufacturing sector Trump has also promised to drastically downsize the federal administration workforce but numerous of those cuts are being challenged in the courts and Congress It s not clear if or when the job cuts ordered by the Department of Authorities Efficiency or DOGE spearheaded by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk will surface in the weekly layoffs statistics Despite showing chosen signs of weakening during the past year the labor region remains robust with plentiful jobs and relatively sparse layoffs Earlier this month the regime revealed that U S employers added a surprisingly strong jobs in April and the unemployment rate held at a historically healthy Various economists still anticipate that a negative impact from transaction wars will materialize this year for American workers Microsoft last week began laying off about workers nearly of its workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years Other companies that have publicized job cuts this year include Workday Dow CNN Starbucks Southwest Airlines and Facebook parent company Meta The Labor Department also communicated Thursday that the four-week average of contends which evens out various of the week-to-week ups and downs during more volatile stretches rose by to The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of May climbed by to million