The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose by 22,000 to 242,000 for the week ending Feb. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts projected that 220,000 new applications would be filed.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs.
The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, climbed by 8,500 to 224,000.
Some analysts say they expect layoffs ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency to show up in the report in the coming weeks.
Just wait until the results of the tariffs start hitting and companies begin cutting people to adjust for their ‘bottom lines’
We saw some of that several years ago in Trumps first term but it will be much worse this time as inflation is higher and so are the tariffs.