BlockBeats News, August 14, last week, the number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. decreased against a backdrop of low layoffs, but weak domestic demand and companies' reluctance to increase hiring may push the unemployment rate up to 4.3% in August. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that for the week ending August 9, initial jobless claims decreased by 3,000, adjusted for seasonal factors to 224,000. The U.S. labor market currently shows a divergence of few layoffs and weak hiring.
In the past three months, the U.S. has added an average of only 35,000 jobs per month, with domestic demand growing at its slowest pace since the fourth quarter of 2022 in the second quarter. Lou Crandall, chief analyst at Wrightson ICAP, stated, "Isolated, these (initial jobless claims) data would suggest that the labor market remains strong. However, we are more concerned about the weak trend in employment data over the past three months, which clearly indicates a different situation." (Jin Shi)