WSJ: U.S. Jobless Claims Rose to 203,000 Last Week

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U.S. Jobless Claims Rose to 203,000 Last Week
WSJ

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Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased by 1,000 to 203,000 last week from the previous week’s revised level of 202,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

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The tight labor market has prompted workers to look for better opportunities. Roughly 4.5 million people quit their jobs in March, the department said.

Wages have been rising as well. Earnings in April were up 5.5% from the previous year, the Labor Department said, well above the wage increases before the pandemic. Still, those wage gains aren’t keeping up with historically high inflation.

Federal Reserve officials are steadily raising interest rates to curb high inflation, which could cool the labor market somewhat in the coming months. But that likely won’t push up unemployment claims much, Ms. Vanden Houten said.

“Even as the economy slows in response to high inflation and rising interest rates we expect employers will slow the pace of hiring well in advance of laying off workers,” she wrote.

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