US unemployment ticked down, hovering at historically low levels
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade policies
ByPAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer
June 18, 2025, 7:40 AM
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
U.S. jobless claims ticked down from 250,000 the week before. Economists had expected last week's claims to match that at 250,000.
The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose to 245,500, the highest since August 2023.
The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits the week of June 7 slid to 1.95 million.
Weekly unemployment claim are a proxy for layoffs and mostly have stayed within a healthy band of 200,000 to 250,000 since the economy recovered from a brief but painful COVID-19 recession in 2020, which temporarily wiped out millions of jobs.
In recent weeks, however, claims have stayed at the high end of range, adding to evidence that U.S. job market is decelerating after years of strong hiring. So far this year, employers are adding a decent but far from spectacular 124,000 jobs a month, down from an average 168,000 last year and an average of nearly 400,000 from 2021 through 2023.
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