According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 226,000 in the week ended August 2.
Weekly unemployment claims rose for the second consecutive week, pointing to weakness in the labor market amid President Donald Trump’s tariff war on allies and trade partners worldwide.
According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 226,000 in the week ended August 2.
The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, dropped by 500 to 220,750.
On the other hand, continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.97 million range, suggesting that unemployed Americans continue to find it difficult to land a job, pointing to a slowdown in the pace of hiring.
The largest increase in claims came from Kansas at 254, followed by Vermont at 252, whereas the most significant decrease in claims was from Kentucky at 6,212, Texas at 2,720, followed by Georgia at 1,949.
Meanwhile, U.S. equities rose in Thursday’s pre-market trade as President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs deadline kicked in. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.57%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.74%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory.
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