The US Labour Department said on Thursday, August 13, that initial jobless claims rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended August 8, from a revised 200,000 in the previous week. The reading was slightly above economists’ expectations of around 205,000. The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly volatility, was unchanged at 199,000.
The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell by 22,000 to 1.78 million in the week ended August 1, suggesting that the rise in initial claims has yet to translate into a significant deterioration in the broader labour market. Weekly jobless claims are closely watched as a proxy for layoffs and have remained largely within a historically low range.
Also Read: US jobs shrink by 23,000 in July as Iran conflict weighs on economy; unemployment dips to 4.1%
The labour market has remained resilient despite higher energy prices following the conflict involving Iran. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said the labour market had shown no signs of “wear and tear” from the surge in oil prices linked to the energy supply shock.
However, the strength of the labour market is increasingly uneven. While companies have largely held on to existing workers, they have been cautious about adding new employees. Economists have described the environment as a “no hire, no fire” labour market, reflecting employers’ reluctance to cut staff after the worker shortages that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside limited appetite for new hiring.
The latest employment data underlines that caution. US employers, government agencies and nonprofits cut 23,000 jobs in July, rather than adding workers. So far this year, employers have added an average of about 61,000 jobs a month. That is an improvement from 2025, when monthly job growth averaged just 9,700, but remains well below the pace seen in the years immediately following the pandemic.
Hiring is also significantly weaker than in 2023 and 2024, when employers added an average of about 166,000 jobs a month. The gap is even wider compared with the 2021-22 hiring boom, when payrolls expanded by an average of roughly 491,000 jobs a month.The pattern suggests that while employed Americans continue to enjoy relatively strong job security, people entering the labour market or trying to find new work after a layoff face a more difficult environment. Lingering effects of elevated interest rates and uncertainty over US trade policy have also kept businesses cautious about expanding their workforces.
(Inputs from agencies)
