BlockBeats News, September 25th. In the United States, initial jobless claims fell last week, but the employment market lost its luster due to a sluggish hiring pace. The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Thursday that for the week ending September 20th, seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 to 218,000. Due to the uncertainty brought by protectionist trade policies, despite hoarding workers, businesses remain reluctant to increase their workforce. Protectionist trade policies have raised the U.S.’s average tariff to the highest level in a century. Weak labor demand has weakened the resilience of the labor market, prompting the Fed to cut interest rates again last week.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration has also reduced labor supply, suppressing job growth. Initial jobless claims data shows that, for the week ending September 13th, continuing jobless claims decreased by 2,000 to 1.926 million after seasonal adjustment. The average duration of unemployment in August increased from 24.1 weeks to 24.5 weeks, the longest since April 2022, pushing the unemployment rate to its highest point in nearly four years at 4.3%. (FXStreet)
