by Jason Cohen
The number of Americans who filed new unemployment claims increased more than expected to 261,000 in the week ending June 3, the Department of Labor (DOL) reported Thursday.
Claims rose 28,000 compared to the previous week’s revised level, the highest number since October 2021, when it was 264,000, according to the DOL. This substantially exceeded the median forecast, which was 236,000, according to MarketWatch.
The report suggests the labor market is beginning to exhibit indications of a slowdown, according to Bloomberg.
Initial Jobless Claims Surged To Highest Since Oct 2021 https://t.co/pCenxaOjJq
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 8, 2023
Jobless claims increased by 3,000, and 1,757,000 Americans received unemployment benefits in the week ending May 27, according to the DOL.
The DOL’s report lines up with the employment report showing that unemployment rose from 3.4 percent to 3.7 percent in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The report’s household survey revealed a plunge of 23,000 full-time jobs and 220,000 part-time jobs.
Moreover, a World Bank report on Tuesday predicted that the U.S. economy would slow to a 1.1% growth rate in 2023.
The U.S. economy decelerated to a 1.3% annual growth rate in the first quarter of 2023, according to revised GDP statistics published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in May, while the trade deficit expanded by $14 billion in April compared to March as exports plummeted and imports increased, according to the BEA.
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Jason Cohen is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
