Washington — Recent data indicates a drop in unemployment benefit applications, marking the lowest figures in 10 weeks, suggesting that layoffs in the United States remain low. According to the Labor Department’s report, for the week ending July 11, applications for jobless aid fell by 8,000 to reach 208,000. This number is significantly below the 219,000 new applications predicted by analysts from FactSet.
Jobless benefit filings serve as a near real-time indicator of layoffs, reflecting the current state of the U.S. job market. The June jobs report revealed that employers have become cautious with hiring, adding only 57,000 positions, which is slightly over half of the previous month’s figure. The unemployment rate decreased to 4.2% from May’s 4.3%. This decline is attributed mainly to individuals ceasing their job search and thus no longer being considered unemployed.
Despite slow June hiring following moderate job gains in earlier months, there are lingering concerns about economic instability due to external factors. Nonetheless, weekly applications for jobless aid have steadied between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. emerged from the pandemic-induced recession.
The hiring slowdown began around two years ago, exacerbated in 2025 by factors such as tariffs imposed by the then-President Donald Trump, workforce adjustments in federal agencies, and high interest rates aimed at curbing inflation. Companies like Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney, Starbucks, and Walmart have recently downsized. Microsoft also announced layoffs of 4,800 employees, impacting 2.1% of its global staff, including many from its Xbox division.
The four-week moving average, which accounts for volatility, fell by 4,750 to 214,250. The total number from the week ending July 4 was 1.81 million, continuing to be a historically low figure.