By Arlenys Tabare
According to data published this Thursday by the United States Department of Labor, for the second week of April, 6,000 new applications for unemployment benefits were added, reaching 214,000 in total.
According to the analysis figures, for the week ending April 11, The total number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits increased by 12,000, reaching 1.82 million.
In the midst of a tight labor market with the development of a war in the Middle East that has partly caused inflation to skyrocket, unemployment claims become a key component in determining the number of indirect layoffs in the country, showing the overall health of the sector.
For Federal Reserve monetary policymakers, the labor market is an important indicator for making interest rate decisions. Recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicated in a report that During the month of March, some 178,000 new jobs were created; However, the unemployment rate remains above 4%.
The BLS analysis also highlighted that some 92,000 jobs were lost during the month of February; In recent months there has been a strong wave of layoffs, especially in the technology and commercial sector. The first due to the incorporation of AI into its operating systems and the second due to the drop in consumer spending pressured by high prices.
The war in Iran The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and rising oil and gasoline prices have increased pressures on American consumers.who are already feeling the weight of larger bills in their pockets.
Inflation has also skyrocketed in recent weeks, standing at 3.3% year-on-year, driven by the cost of gasoline, which is currently above $4 per gallon.
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